Health Board: Speed of the spread of coronavirus has slowed
The speed of the spread of COVID-19 in Estonia has slowed, and at present 12.4 COVID-19 positive cases have been identified per 10,000 residents, the Health Board said on Wednesday.
In total, about 4 percent of the Estonian population have been tested for COVID-19 and 3.4 percent of the tests have returned a positive result, newly released statistics from the Health Board show.
The highest shares of positive test results have been in Saare County at 16.4 percent, in Võru County at 4.6 percent, and Pärnu County at 3.1 percent.
The review released by the board shows the tests performed and the positive results of COVID-19 by county, hospitalization rate, ages of patients using ventilators and mortality rates.
In total, 372 people have been hospitalized after contracting the disease. Between March 27 and April 26, a total of 33 patients needed to use ventilators which is 8.9 percent of patients hospitalized for COVID-19. The majority of people - 57.6 percent - were over 60 years of age.
Looking at the breakdown of men and women, 80 percent of patients who need to use ventilators were men who had an average age of 59 years old. The women - 20 percent of users - had an average age of 75.
The average age of someone who has died of COVID-19 is 80 years old. The youngest is 59 and the oldest 99.
The report shows all laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 imported from abroad known to the Health Board by country. There are 118 known cases introduced and they come from 21 different countries. Most cases have been brought in from Austria - 34, followed by Italy with 23 cases and France with eight cases.
Although the spread is slowing down, according to Dr. Arkady Popov, the medical head of the Health Board's crisis unit, care must be taken until the end of the emergency.
"If we lose vigilance too soon, it can also nullify all our previous efforts. Therefore, we must still stick to the restrictions," said Dr. Popov.
The emergency situation is scheduled to last until May 17. The 2+2 rule continues to apply when using in a public place.
The report can be read on the Health Board's website, currently, only in Estonian. ERR News will add the link to the English version if it becomes available.
See more data from the Health Board here.
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Editor: Helen Wright
