COVID-19 blog, 22 October: seventy-six new positive test results have been added in the past 24 hours

The last 24 hours have seen a total of 1,499 initial tests being analysed in Estonia in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19, with seventy-six new positive test results being added.

Based on the data in the population register, the highest number of new positive test results came from Harju County, where forty-nine further individuals were found to have been infected. Eleven new positive coronavirus test results were added from Ida-Viru County and three from Pärnu County. Two new cases each were also added from Jõgeva County, Rapla County, and Valga County, and further new individual cases also came from Saare County and Tartu County. On five occasions, the places of residences of those individuals who tested positive were not specified in the population register. As a rule, such individuals tend to be foreign nationals.

The number of cases for every 100,000 people in the last fourteen days is 36.72.

According to Üllar Lanno, director-general of the Health Board, the people of Estonia and the healthcare sector have done a good job in fighting the virus, but its spread is gathering pace elsewhere in the world. ‘We must keep in mind the longer perspective and the global view. As the spread of the virus is gathering pace in Europe, we must also remain vigilant,’ said Mr Lanno, adding that people should only travel if it is unavoidable. ‘Each case which is brought in from abroad can create several new cases in Estonia, so anyone who is returning from abroad should keep a close eye on their health.’ Furthermore, those individuals who chose to spend the school holidays travelling within Estonia should also be careful, according to Lanno. ‘You can also catch COVID-19 when travelling around your home country.’

Forty-two new cases were added from Tallinn, while seventeen of the new cases from Harju County were close contacts of individuals who had already fallen ill. One case was brought in from Russia. The circumstances surrounding the remaining cases are still being investigated. There are nine different outbreaks in total within the northern regional department’s area of operations. Forty-two cases are connected to the first outbreak in a workplace, while the second workplace outbreak involves eight cases, and the third workplace outbreak also involves eight cases. An outbreak within a family circle includes five individuals. The first school outbreak involves six cases. A fourth workplace outbreak include nine cases each, while a fifth workplace outbreak includes six individuals. A second school outbreak includes five cases. A party outbreak was also added this morning which includes seven individuals.

The inspectors of the Health Board’s northern regional department are monitoring 1,521 people, of whom 258 have fallen ill.

Three of the new cases from Ida-Viru County were infected in the workplace, one further individual was infected at a kindergarten, and four people were infected via their acquaintances or family contacts. The circumstances surrounding the remaining cases are still being investigated. There are seven active outbreaks in total within the eastern regional department’s area of operations. Eleven cases are connected to an outbreak at a school in Kohtla-Järve, and an outbreak within a circle of family members and acquaintances in Ida-Viru County involves eight cases. There are nine cases that are connected to an outbreak at a school in Jõhvi, and twenty-one cases to the care home outbreak in Jõhvi. The outbreak at a school in Sillamäe involves a further thirty-six individuals, and an outbreak at an entertainment establishment involves ten cases in total in Kohtla-Järve and Sillamäe. The workplace outbreak from Narva involves seven cases.

The Health Board’s eastern regional department is monitoring 690 people, of whom 129 have fallen ill.

The new cases from Jõgeva County were infected via family contacts, while the new case from Tartu County was infected via a work-related contact. One of the new cases from Valga County caught the virus from a family contact. One further case from Valga County was handed over to the northern regional department as it involves an individual who actually lives in Harju County. The southern regional department is monitoring 406 people, of whom fifty-seven have fallen ill. As part of those efforts, the southern regional department is also monitoring two outbreaks. An outbreak in a workplace in Võru involves twenty-four individuals and another workplace outbreak in Jõgeva County involves twenty individuals.

One of the new cases from Pärnu County was infected via an acquaintance, while the circumstances surrounding the remaining two cases are still being investigated. The circumstances surrounding the new case from Saare County are also being investigated. The new case from Pärnu County was infected via a family contact. The western regional department is monitoring eighty people, of whom twenty have fallen ill.

Thirty-two patients are being treated in hospital

As of the morning of 22 October, a total of thirty-two COVID-19 patients in Estonia are being treated in hospital, with one patient on a ventilator. One new patient was discharged from hospital, and four new COVID-19 cases were opened (three cases in total were opened on 21 October 2020 and one further case was opened today). No new deaths have been added in the past 24 hours. Coronavirus has now claimed the lives of seventy-one people in Estonia.

As of today, 20 October, hospitals have closed a total of 525 cases relating to COVID-19 which involved 511 people.

Also as of 22 October, a total of 3,366 people have recovered from COVID-19. The cases of 2,497 people have been closed (74.2% of the total) and, in the case of 869 people (25.8%), more than 28 days have passed since they tested positive and the individuals concerned are not being treated in hospital, meaning that they are awaiting confirmation of their recovery.

Over 248,000 initial tests have been analysed in Estonia, of which 4,247 or 1.7% of the total have been positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Detailed statistical data from the coronavirus tests is available at: www.terviseamet.ee/koroonakaart.

Let’s remain vigilant

The spread of coronavirus has remained stable, but let’s remain vigilant. The spread has been stabilised thanks to the responsible, attentive, and careful behaviour of the people of Estonia.

The number of cases which have been brought in from abroad has decreased a touch in the past week, but still remains at around forty cases a week. While forty-four cases were brought in from abroad in the week before last, the same figure for last week was forty. Infected individuals arrived mainly from Russia and Ukraine, followed by the United Kingdom, Austria, Poland, and other European counties.

Last week, 7.6 tests were analysed for every 100,000 people. This number is not sufficiently high to prove that there is currently no concealed spread of the virus in Estonia. The share of positive test results was 2.1 percent.

Download the HOIA mobile app from Google Play or App Store which will inform you if you have come into close contact with an individual who has coronavirus. The app also allows you to anonymously notify other users if you have fallen ill yourself. Codes are being exchanged anonymously between the phones of people who use the app, while the government, the app’s developer, and the manufacturer of your phone will not be notified of those with whom you have come into close contact. Further information is available here: www.hoia.me/en.

COVID-19 is a droplet infection which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading from one person to another as a result of sneezing and coughing or via contaminated surfaces and unwashed hands.

According to information from the Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre, as of today the HOIA app has been downloaded on 158,758 occasions, and 108 individuals have used the app to highlight themselves as having been infected.

Further information about COVID-19 can be found on the Health Board website and on its Facebook page.