Government will extend emergency situation, says Martin Helme
Speaking on their radio broadcast "Räägime asjast" on Sunday, Minister of Finance Martin Helme (EKRE) and Minister of the Interior Mart Helme (EKRE) said that the current emergency situation in Estonia would not end at the end of April, but rather will be extended by at least a couple of weeks.
"I am giving a completely clear signal: we will not end the emergency situation on April 30," Martin Helme said according to online news portal Delfi (link in Estonian). "We need to maintain these measures."
He noted that the yardstick being used to assess the need to extend the emergency situation is statistics on the number of people hospitalized and the number of new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
According to Mart Helme, it would be a huge relief to be able to conclude the emergency situation, however if this were to be done prematurely, Estonia could run the risk of seeing a new wave of the virus.
"And then we will be quarantined all summer," he noted. "And likely fall on top of that."
Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Center) announced on Monday morning that the decision regarding whether or not to extend the emergency situation would be made at the end of April.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla