Day brings 579 COVID-19 cases, four deaths
A total of 5,285 initial tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus were carried out in Estonia in the past 24 hours of which 579 or almost 11 percent were positive, data from the Health Board reveals. Four people died.
Harju County say 356 new cases, Ida-Viru County 106, Tartu County 35, Rapla County, 15 and Pärnu County 15 new cases.
Lääne-Viru County got 13, Võru and Järve counties nine, Viljandi County five, Saare, Lääne and Valga counties two and Põlva County a single diagnosis. Sixteen people diagnosed lacked a registered place of residence.
Four people with COVID-19 died over the past 24 hours, putting the total casualties at 174.
As of Sunday, December 20, 340 patients are being treated in hospitals 18 of whom are on respiratory support and 30 in intensive care units, up from 331 total people hospitalized, 17 on respiratory support and 29 in the ICU a day earlier.
The 14-day case rate per 100,000 people now stands at 523,1 (up from 505.88 24 hours earlier) and positive tests make up 9.6 percent of all tests administered.
Health Board monitoring over 29,000 people
Health Board North is monitoring over 18,700 people of whom 3,887 have taken ill. The board is monitoring over 6,000 people and 1,606 COVID-19 patients in the east.
The board's southern arm is monitoring around 2,800 people, including 588 patients, while Health Board West is keeping tabs on over 1,800 people (377 infected).
Hospitals have closed a total of 1,125 COVID-19 treatment cases involving 1,101 people.
As of December 20, a total fo 13,049 people have recovered from COVID-19, with the cases of 9,913 people (76 percent) closed and a further 3,136 people (24 percent) having gone 28 days without testing positive.
Estonia has carried out over 582,500 tests for the SARS-CoV-2 virus since the spring of 2020, with initial positives coming to 21,794 or 3.7 percent of all tests.
Health Board urges people to spend Christmas with a close few
The Health Board asks people to spend the holidays with their immediate family only to keep the already struggling medical system from collapsing. People should make sure everyone is healthy before meeting with relatives. Sensible distance should be maintained even between members of the same family when celebrating Christmas.
The board also urges people to consider using e-commerce when gift shopping to avoid as many close contacts as possible.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
