Men in Finland are more likely than women to test positive for Covid-19, according to a report by the country’s largest hospital district-owned laboratory, Fimlab.
The lab began tracking coronavirus tests at its facilities in July and found that women were more diligent about seeking a test diagnosis than men. All the same, men were more likely to test positive for the virus, its records show.
Since it began collecting test data, Fimlab found that 42 percent of people seeking tests were men. However men accounted for more than half of positive test results. It said that young men between the ages of 21 and 30 were also more likely to test positive for the disease.
Working age women tended to get tested most often. The lab found that the proportion of this group that was tested was nearly 20 percent more than men of the same age.
"This has to do with the high level of testing among health care and teaching professionals. However, extensive testing [of these groups] did not show similar positive results," Fimlab service director Anu Mustila said.
Mustila said that the firm’s records suggest that regardless of age, men got tested less often than women. Additionally, fewer men over the age of 60 sought a test than women of the same age.
Fimlab is jointly owned by the Pirkanmaa, Kanta-Häme and Central Finland hospital districts.