Seven new positive COVID-19 cases added over last 24 hours

Over last 24 hours 602 COVID-19 virus tests were analysed in Estonia, 1.2% of them, i.e. 7 tests came back positive.  In total, 40,930 first-time tests have been performed in Estonia, of which 1,535 i.e. 3.8% have shown positive results.

As of the morning of April 20, 128 patients require hospitalisation due to the novel coronavirus, 9 persons require ventilation. The youngest hospitalised patient is 19-years old, the oldest is 100-years old. 165 people have been discharged. No deaths occurred during the previous 24 h period.  Total 40 people have died in Estonia due to the coronavirus.

According to the population register, six people with positive diagnosis live in Harju County, and one in Tartu County.  Harju County now ranks on top of the list with the absolute number of infections (526), Saare County (520) is on the second place.  The morbidity rate of Saare County is still the highest in Estonia – the number of positive cases per 10,000 inhabitants is 157.1. Second place is held by Võru County (22.6 positive results per 10,000 inhabitants).  More positive test results were added across all age groups.  The youngest COVID-19 positive is in the age group of 5 to 9 years of age, the eldest in the age group of 80-84. Detailed statistical information of coronavirus testing is available at: www.koroonakaart.ee/en.

Out of 178 care homes in Estonia, 13 care homes have tested positive for COVID-19

In four care homes in Estonia the rate of COVID-19 infections is higher – two care homes in Saaremaa and one in Ida-Viru County, and one in Tartu County.  In the rest of the care homes, there have been 1-2 residents or employees with a positive test result and no new infections have been added to them in recent weeks.

“Care homes are part of the society, and they have not been left untouched by COVID-19. Looking at the number of care homes and the number of residents, we really must recognise the professionalism of managers and staff of care homes,” said Triin Raag, the Head of the Emergency Response Centre of the Health Board. “The care providers work to preserve life and often receive too little attention for this commendable work. It is thanks to the staff of the care homes that our loved ones are safe.”,

One of the most at-risk groups of COVID-19 infection are the elderly and people with chronic diseases. This has been the reason why the care homes have been given increased attention already before the establishment of the emergency situation and during the emergency situation. Visits to persons in care homes are prohibited, restrictions of movement have been established at care homes, the acceptance of packages and the organisation of isolation is carried out on the basis of specific instructions. In addition, help is provided for these care homes where no nursing service has been available.  The Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund provides support to care homes in finding temporary workforce, fast-track courses have been initiated for care workers.

In Estonia, there are 150 providers of 24 hours general care services for the mostly older clients, and total of 178 care homes offering services. There are now nearly 9,000 residents in the general care homes. Due to the emergency situation in Estonia, the prohibition to visit applies to all social welfare institutions, hospitals and detention facilities until the preliminary date of 1 May 2020.
 

Clarification of the Health and Welfare Information Systems Centre (TEHIK) regarding the publication of data:

Healthcare providers (including laboratories) can correct, modify and invalidate the documents retrospectively.  We always publish updated information for previous 24 hrs received from the health information system (TIS) as open data.  Laboratories introduce changes, corrections and deletions, these will be included under the open data from the previous period.

Additional information can be found on the Health Board website on coronavirus: www.terviseamet.ee/en/covid19 and on the Health Board Facebook page.  Questions regarding the emergency situation will be answered on the Government website: www.valitsus.ee/en/emergency-situation-estonia.