ABSTRACT
Understanding risk perceptions of the public is critical for risk communication. In February 2020, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare started collecting weekly qualitative data on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) risk perception that informs risk communication efforts. The process is based on thematic analysis of emails and social media messages from the public and identifies factors linked to appraisal of risk magnitude, which are developed into risk communication recommendations together with health and communication experts.
Subject(s)
Communication , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus , Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Pandemics/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Disease Susceptibility , Finland/epidemiology , Humans , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Public Health , SARS-CoV-2 , Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome , Social MediaABSTRACT
The first case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Finland was confirmed on 29 January 2020. No secondary cases were detected. We describe the clinical picture and laboratory findings 3-23 days since the first symptoms. The SARS-CoV-2/Finland/1/2020 virus strain was isolated, the genome showing a single nucleotide substitution to the reference strain from Wuhan. Neutralising antibody response appeared within 9 days along with specific IgM and IgG response, targeting particularly nucleocapsid and spike proteins.