1010 coronavirus test were analysed in 24 hours, 37 new positive cases added

On 26 and 27 March, a total of 1010 coronavirus tests were analysed in Estonia, and 37 tests (4%) came back positive. According to the population register, over the 24 hour period, most coronavirus cases were found in Saare County (14), Võru County (6), Pärnu County (5), and Harju County (5).

In total, 8121 coronavirus tests have been performed in Estonia, and 575 have shown positive results. Analyses show that most of the infected persons are in the 40-49 (24%) and over 60 (24%) age groups. According to the test results, 23% of those infected are in the 50-59 age group and 18% in the 30-39 age group.

As of yesterday, the Health Board started publishing the results based on data from the health information system TIS. Previously, the Health Board was not able to submit such queries to the health information system, however, using TIS became necessary because of the number of laboratories that now have testing capacity and because a private sector partner has been included in the work.

As of last evening, 40 patients require hospitalisation in Estonia due to the novel coronavirus, of whom 7 are in intensive care and in critical condition. 11 patients have recovered from the disease and one person has died.

Over half a million people have now fallen ill due to the coronavirus, which started spreading from China. The largest number of infected persons are in the United States (over 85 000), China (over 81 000), and Italy (over 80 000).

Coronavirus risk groups include persons with chronic illnesses and elderly people. To protect the risk groups, the Health Board recommendations are as follows:

• It is strictly forbidden to visit nursing homes, because it endangers the health of the residents.
• Avoiding contact between people is of utmost importance, because otherwise it is not possible to contain the spread of the virus.
• Additionally, in the coming weeks, moving residents from one nursing home to another should be avoided, as well as taking in new residents. Elderly persons in need of care should turn to their local government to receive home care services.
• The Health Board, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the National Social Insurance Board have developed guidelines on how to act if infection is suspected in case of a nursing home resident or employee. The guideline has been sent to all social welfare institutions. The Social Insurance Board is in constant contact with the nursing homes and ready to act on a case-by-case basis.
• Over the past weeks, the Social Insurance Board in cooperation with the Health Board has actively been working on informing nursing homes and explaining how following hygiene requirements is of utmost importance in preventing infection. It is the responsibility of every service provider to guarantee that all recommendations and measures would be applied to the maximum extent.

Due to the emergency situation in Estonia, the prohibition to visit applies to all social welfare institutions, hospitals and prisons until the preliminary date of 1 May 2020, unless otherwise decided by the government.

To contain the further spread of the COVID-19 infection, the Health Board ordered the cessation of all regular, planned health care outside of the national network of hospitals. Private medical establishments and dental clinics will only provide emergency care. Regular treatments are stopped to contain the spread of the virus and in the interest of using personal protective equipment more economically. Regular treatments that have already been started will be reassessed by the doctor and patient, on a case-by-case basis. All regular treatments, whose cessation would endanger a patient’s health, will definitely have to be carried out to their completion.

Additional information is available on the Health Board’s dedicated website and on the Health Board Facebook page. Questions about the emergency situation are answered on the government website.