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Coronavirus pandemic

Number of coronavirus cases in Finland rises to around 8,800

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 337 deaths have been recorded in the country

HELSINKI, September 17. /TASS/. The number of coronavirus cases in Finland increased by 49 per day and reached 8,799, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Social Development said on Thursday.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 337 deaths have been recorded in the country. According to the latest estimates of the Institute, over the past two weeks the number of cases of infection per 100,000 people in Finland is just over 10. This is higher than it was two weeks earlier, when the figure was 6 cases per 100,000 people. Most of the new cases occur, according to the organization, within the country and only a small number of them are brought from abroad.

Finland closed its borders from March 19 to May 13 to prevent the spread of the virus. Since May 14, the borders within the Schengen area have been opened for travel for business purposes and under urgent circumstances. Since June 15, the country has opened borders for the Baltic states and the Nordic countries, with the exception of Sweden, since July 13 - for almost 20 more European countries, as well as for working trips and visits under urgent circumstances between Finland and 11 non-European countries. The border with Russia remains closed until October 18.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 30,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 945,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 21,818,200 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, 1,085,281 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 895,868 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 19,061 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

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