The number of people in Finland suffering from Covid-19 who require hospital care has risen significantly since last month, according to the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
On Monday there were 218 people receiving hospital care for Covid, which is 26 more patients than on Friday and an increase of more than 100 patients a month ago, when there were 78 Covid patients in hospitals across the country.
A total of 33 patients were in intensive care units in various parts of Finland as of Monday.
THL reported four additional coronavirus-related fatalities over the weekend, bringing the country's Covid-19 death toll to 1,120.
THL also noted on Monday that 1,310 new lab-confirmed coronavirus cases were diagnosed across Finland since Friday, the last time the agency released new case numbers.
The largest number of cases (541) were reported in the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District.
Incidence rate up
Finland's coronavirus infection incidence rate has risen slightly . This week the incidence rate stood at 138 per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, while a couple of weeks ago the incidence rate was 120 per 100,000 residents.
On Sunday it was reported that Finland's classification in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's situation report changed from yellow to red this week.
Countries deemed 'red' indicate 75 to 200 new Covid infections per 100,000 inhabitants and a test positivity rate of four percent or more over the past 14 days.
That classification meant that the European agency does not recommend travel to Finland due to the deteriorating coronavirus situation.
The highest incidence rate (248 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks) was in southern Finland's region of Päijät-Häme.
Meanwhile the lowest incidence rate over the past two weeks (12.5 cases per 100,000 residents) was in East Savo.
However, Finland's overall number of lab-confirmed coronavirus cases declined by just under 100 to 7,626 cases over the past two weeks.
Covid vaccine coverage of residents over the age of 12 reached 75.7 percent by Monday.