Initial random testing of residents in the Uusimaa region for Covid-19 antibodies have found very few people who have already had the disease, according to the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), which published a report on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, THL began researching the spread of novel coronavirus in the country with the help of broad, random antibody testing - starting in Uusimaa, the region featuring the highest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country.
Inviting test subjects at random on a voluntary basis, the agency aims to determine how many residents may already possess coronavirus antibodies - blood proteins used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens, like viruses.
Now, a few weeks later, 516 samples have been collected and analysed, and 11 of the samples tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.
The study uses two types of antibody tests in its research. The first measures the presence of antibodies that recognise the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain that causes the coronavirus disease, Covid-19. The second test detects antibodies that are able to neutralise the virus.
The agency’s special researcher Merit Melin said in a statement that the neutralisation test reliably measures the presence of functional antibodies and are most likely to indicate "at least the formation of short-term protective immunity."
THL underscored that the possibility of false positive results is significant when the prevalence of antibodies among the population is still very low.
International experts still are not certain how much - or how long - the presence of antibodies can protect a person from being infected by the virus again, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Research continues across university hospitals
The coronavirus epidemic began later in Finland than in many other European countries, and restrictions implemented by the government - like closing school classrooms and banning gatherings of more than 10 people - helped to slow down the spread of the epidemic, according to THL.
The sampling of random residents served by the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district began on 9 April and included test subjects between the ages of 18-69.
The agency said that random sampling was the most reliable way to determine how many residents might possess the antibodies. As more testing is done, the data will continue to be examined as data accumulates, according to THL research manager Arto Palmu.
The tests are voluntary, but Palmu encouraged those who are invited to participate so the data can be used to help experts and decision makers move forward in combatting the epidemic.
The very low proportion of positive antibody test results might lead some to believe the restrictions put in place to reduce the spread of the disease may have been excessive, but virology professor at the University of Turku, Ilkka Julkunen, said he didn’t think that is the case.
"My view is that the task of the healthcare system is to try to avoid morbidity, whatever the disease," he said, adding that in terms of the general public disease should always be avoided.
"It is not inevitable that everyone will get a coronavirus infection at some point," he said, pointing out that measures like social distancing and good hand hygiene have proven to be effective in Finland.
He said the results of those measures are what they were meant to do - curb the spread of the disease across the country.
"We can congratulate ourselves about the fact that those measures have been more effective than originally thought," Julkunen said.
He noted that the goal of preventing the spread of the illness while also gradually opening up society are not contradictory efforts.