Southwest Finland currently has more COVID-19 patients in intensive care than ever before during the pandemic. A staggering 90 percent of patients in the ICU are reportedly unvaccinated.
The coronavirus coordination group of Southwest Finland has stated that the situation is worrying, as the number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalisation and intensive care has reached a critical level.
The Turku University hospital is currently treating a total of 14 patients who have the virus. The growing number of COVID-19 patients could lead to the postponement of major surgeries that require intensive care.
According to the Hospital Director at Turku University Hospital Petri Virolainen, the facility had seven COVID-19 patients in the ICU earlier this week, which is more than it had at any point during the pandemic so far.
Virolainen stated in a press release that if the number of COVID-19 patients requiring specialised treatment goes beyond eight, the hospital will have to limit the number of surgeries for cardiac, cancer and neurosurgical patients, among others.
Esa Rintala, the senior chief physician in charge of infectious diseases in the hospital district, said that in addition to 90 percent of ICU patients being unvaccinated, 81 percent of those that have been hospitalised are unvaccinated, while 12 percent have only received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Tahira Sequeira
Helsinki Times
