COVID-19 blog, 29 July: five new positive test results have been added in the last 24 hours

The last 24 hours have seen a total of 553 initial tests being analysed in Estonia in relation to the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19, with five new positive test results being added.

Three of the new cases came from Tartu and are related to the case which was diagnosed there on 24 July. This is now an outbreak source with five cases in total. The latest individual to have tested positive from this source was in Narva on Monday in spite of the order to remain in isolation, and visited various places there including the Inger hotel and the Fama shopping centre (including KFC and Vaba lava). The individual showed symptoms of the disease during the entire visit.

Two new cases came from Ida-Viru County. One of them was a close contact of a family which has been infected. In the other case, the positive test result was moved from the statistics of 27 July to the statistics of 28 July (a case of infection within a family circle which was disclosed yesterday).

As of the morning of 29 July, three people in Estonia are being treated in hospital due to coronavirus, with no patients on a ventilator. There have been no new deaths in the past 24 hours. Coronavirus has claimed the lives of a total of 69 people in Estonia.

As of today, hospitals have closed a total of 393 cases of COVID-19 which involved 380 people.

A total of 1,926 people have or are recovering from COVID-19 by today. The cases of 1,458 people have been closed (75.7% of the total) and, in the case of 468 people (24.3%), 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.

Detailed statistical data of the coronavirus tests is available at www.koroonakaart.ee/en.

Weekly COVID-19 blog, 29 July: the statistical figures for COVID-19 cases in Estonia are being influenced by imported cases

Sixteen new cases have been found in the last fourteen days (covering the period between 13 July and 27 July). The cumulative number of new cases per 100,000 people has been at 1.2 in the last two weeks.

One of these was infected within a circle of acquaintances (6.2% of the total number of cases), one at work (6.2%), and twelve abroad (75.0%). The origin of the infection has remained unknown in two cases (12.5%). The cases were registered in six counties (Harju County, Ida-Viru County, Jõgeva County, Pärnu County, Tartu County, and Viljandi County).

As of 27 July 2020, the total of 1,452 people have recovered (71.4% of the total). In the case of 471 individuals, more than 28 days have passed since they tested positive. Of the patients who have required hospitalisation, a total of eighty (86.6%) have been discharged for further treatment at home, while 56 (12.8%) have died, and three (0.7%) remain hospitalised. Four individuals were hospitalised in July and, as of 27 July, no patients are on a ventilator.

As of today, the number of cases which have been confirmed by laboratory tests stands at 2,034. The number of cases per 100,000 people is 153.5. In total, 8.9% of the population of Estonia has been tested as of 27 July 2020. The test results have been positive in 1.7% of cases. Registered imported COVID-19 cases form 8.2% of the total number of cases which have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

The Health Board would like to remind people that they should continue to wash their hands carefully, staying at home when they feel unwell, and leaving enough space for their fellow citizens in order to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-1 virus which causes COVID-19. Coronavirus primarily spreads from an infected person to healthy people via close contact. Close contact is classed as a situation in which two people are within two metres of each other for at least fifteen minutes.

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.