“The exact number of casualties in the Defense Forces is known, the rest of society no longer knows it,” says the medical lieutenant. HS asks conscripts about Korona-era military service.
Coronavirus currently illnesses a lot of conscripts and causes inconvenience in garrisons. However, the latest figures suggest that the worst phase may already be behind us.
According to data collected by the General Staff, a total of just under 4,000 conscripts became ill during January, compared to a total of 17,000 currently employed.
“Fortunately, most people are asymptomatic or asymptomatic,” says a lieutenant in medicine, the director of the Center for Military Medicine. Kari Kesseli.
The figures mean that almost one in four has already had or is currently suffering from a disease caused by the coronavirus.
However, the direction may be going down, as the number of people sick this week is about 2,400, compared to more than 2,600 last week.
HS asks conscripts about Korona-era military service. You can answer the online survey at the end of this story.
Read more: The conscript is worried about the conscripts coping with the Korona wave – Some of the six-week detention periods
Often it is said that the army is like a miniature society. If this is the case with the coronavirus, then the military is a little ahead of the rest of society. It is likely that more people in employment than the control civilian have already contracted the disease.
“However, we in the Defense Forces know the exact number of patients, the rest of society no longer knows it. One would believe that the ratio could be similar elsewhere in society, ”says Kesseli.
This may be the case, for example, because people no longer have official tests, but are diagnosed with the infection at home and are killed at home. Thus, the actual number of infections has not been recorded in daily infection counts for a long time.
The garrisons are now trying to test all symptomatic and exposed.
Read more: The graph shows how the amount of coronavirus in the wastewater has increased with the omicron wave – The water showed infections that have not been tested
However, Kesseli is not excited if you compare the army to a test lab.
“We have challenging accommodation when twelve people live in the same room. That doesn’t happen in homes or workplaces. We also have significantly stricter restrictions than elsewhere. ”
Will there be virus to go through every conscript?
“That’s when there would be a crystal ball. I have a strong suspicion that the virus will go through the whole of society, ”he replies.
“We are still able to break the chains of infection, but it will only succeed within the garrison. When it comes to holidays, the situation changes. ”
It is the return from the holidays that increases infections. According to Kessel, the disease pressure in society is now high.
He believes that almost all Finns have encountered the virus by the summer. At the same time, he recalls that no conscript has so far required hospital treatment for the coronavirus. In that respect, the test lab comparison does not work.
“Fortunately, conscripts have not had a severe form of the disease. It is important. They get sick, but they don’t get in the awkward shape of it, ”he says.
“If the action bites, the peak of the epidemic will be lowered. We are probably already on a clear downward curve in March. ”
Read more: Healthy conscripts of the Armored Brigade now sleep in the tent because the interior is needed for the sick and exposed – the coronation situation in the garrisons is the worst during the whole epidemic
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