Four users of the Tabivere Social Center, about 20 kilometers north of Estonia's second city, are currently hospitalized, with a new round of tests among guests and others who received assisted living to be conducted, BNS reports

As reported on ERR News, tests at the social center earlier in the week uncovered five cases.

Several individuals with no link to the care home have also recently tested positive, according to BNS.

Tartu County had been one of the least affected regions by coronavirus early on in the pandemic. However, from late March its numbers of confirmed cases started to rise, and at 80 is in fact third by total number of cases, albeit far behind Saaremaa (454) and Harju County (404), according to Health Board data. At 5.23 cases per 10,000 inhabitants, it lies above the median figure though below the mean, at present.

The Tabivere center is not the first care facility to see a coronavirus outbreak. Twenty-five people at a care home in Saaremaa tested positive for the virus in late March. An outbreak at the only major hospital on the island led to the death of a healthcare worker there earlier in the week, and staff at a hospital in Pärnu had also earlier tested positive for the virus.

Tartu Municipality Mayor Jarno Laur noted that anyone residing or working in Tabivere must regard themselves as having in effect come into contact with COVID-19 carriers and must therefore self-quarantine for 14 days.

Residents of the rural municipality who require social services or assistance with the delivery of food or other essential products are requested to contact the rural municipality government's social department on +372 510 3781 or by email here.

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