90 year old man from Ida-Viru County dies due to Covid-19

After testing positive for the Covid-19 virus, a 90 year old man died at the Ida-Viru Central Hospital last night.

From 30 to 31 March, 1149 coronavirus tests were analysed in Estonia, and 30 tests (3%) came back positive. According to the population register, over the 24 hour period, the highest number of coronavirus cases were found in Harju County (10), followed by Saare County (6), Ida-Viru County (3), Pärnu County (2), Rapla County (2), Tartu County (2) and Võru County (2). One new positive case was found in Lääne-Viru County, Hiiu County and Valga County.

In total, 12401 coronavirus tests have been performed in Estonia, of which 745 (6%) have shown positive results. Results of the analyses show that the highest numbers of infected persons were found in the 45-49 (11%) and 50-54 (11%) age groups, followed by 35-39 (10%) and 55-59 (10%) age groups.

As of last evening, 91 patients require hospitalisation in Estonia due to the novel coronavirus, of whom 13 are in intensive care and in need of assisted respiration. 26 patients have recovered from the disease and 4 people have died.

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 care 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 care 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 care home resident or employee. The guideline has been sent to all social welfare institutions. The Social Insurance Board is in constant contact with the care 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.