The hospital district of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) has begun transferring Covid-19 patients requiring critical care to other parts of Finland due to a lack of capacity, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
HUS is currently setting up six intensive care units in addition to its existing 15 to keep up with the growing demand.
Jari Petäjä, acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of HUS, told Helsingin Sanomat that the decision to transfer patients outside the district was made on Tuesday after estimates indicated that the current intensive care capacity would be exceeded soon.
Hospital authorities put the critical limit for intensive care patients at 15 and the number of patients had already reached 14 on Tuesday.
"If we end up with 16 to 21 patients in the ICU, we will have to cancel four to five major surgeries that require post-operative intensive care every day," Petäjä said.
One intensive care patient has reportedly already been transferred to another part of the country, while two more critical Covid patients are expected to be moved to hospitals outside the HUS district on Wednesday.
Interview with Finnish paper cinches Capitol attacker's punishment
Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reports that US Capitol rioter Kevin Cordon has been sentenced to one year of probation.
The newspaper conducted a brief interview with the 34-year-old, who was covered with blood, soon after he and several other Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington in January.
Prosecutors cited the interview, in which Cordon allegedly showed no remorse about entering the building through a broken window, as grounds for a one-month jail sentence, according to Courthouse News Service.
Cordon received probation instead, after a federal judge said it was unusual for a first-time offender to receive prison time for a non-violent misdemeanor.
In his interview with Ilta-Sanomat, Cordon, who was wearing a bloodied American flag as a cape, stated that it was clear to Trump supporters that the election had been stolen. "We're here to take back our democratic republic," he said.
The interview was brought to the attention of American authorities after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received an anonymous tip from an Ilta-Sanomat reader.
Municipalities apply for Covid-19 compensation
Estimates by news group Uutissuomalinen indicate that around 230 municipalities and hospital districts in Finland have already applied to receive compensation from the state for social and healthcare costs incurred due to the Covid-19 crisis.
The first application round for the financial support ended last Friday. According to Kalle Tervo, Senior Ministerial Adviser at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, authorities expected the number of applications to be a bit higher.
However, several municipalities have transferred their right to apply to municipality associations and regional authorities.
The first application round was for Covid-related expenses incurred during January–August. The second round, which will begin at the beginning of 2022, is expected to cover expenses for the rest of this year.
Preliminary estimates suggest that Covid-19 testing and contact tracing account for the vast majority of costs borne by municipalities.