Health Board Director General Merike Jürilo told ERR that receiving funding is necessary, as there are a variety of fields in which adequate capability is crucial in advance of a new outbreak, should one come. The additional resources are also important to ensure preparedness in the long term.

According to Jürilo, a major priority for the Health Board's ongoing work is data management and an increase in analytical resources.

"Analysts are of help on both the operative level, in making fast decisions and assessing regional spread, noting circumstances, as well as in looking forward and forecasting in the long term," she explained.

The director general noted that it is also important to support the risk communication field, in which the need has been identified for additional resources in order to provide advice in various fields as well as respond to people's questions on social media.

Also in need of a boost is the agency's infectious diseases lab in order to ensure both reference services and the further development of SARS-CoV-2 analyses.

Should the Health Board receive additional funding, according to Jürilo a few candidates are already in mind for a few specific positions, but the intention is nonetheless to provide an equal opportunity to anyone interested in contributing to the field via public competitions to fill the positions.

"First of all, naturally, what is important is that there exists support and understanding that empowering the Health Board is essential, and it is only on this basis that we can start making hiring decisions," Jürilo said.

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