Health Board: 702 new COVID-19 cases in past 24 hours, three deaths
702 new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Estonia in the past 24 hours, the Health Board (Terviseamet) says. Three people have died from causes related to the virus during that time.
Estonia's new coronavirus 14-day rate per 100,000 inhabitants is now 557.8.
Over the past 24 hours, 7,124 coronavirus tests were analyzed, with 702, or 9.9 percent of the total, returning positive.
All bar one of Estonia's 15 counties recorded new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours.
The majority of the new cases came in Harju County, with 460 individuals testing positive, 356 of them in Tallinn.
Ida-Viru County saw 80 new cases, Tartu County and Pärnu County 30 each, Järva County 18, Saaremaa 14, and Valga County 11.
Rapla County posted nine new COVID-19 cases, Viljandi County and Lääne-Viru County eight, Hiiumaa seven, Võrumaa three, and Lääne and Põlva counties one each.
Jõgeva County was the only one of Estonia's 15 counties not to see any new cases.
Additionally, 15 new coronavirus cases had no data appended to the individuals in the population registry, which the Health Board bases its location data on.
The number of hospitalizations has fallen since Wednesday morning, to 365 (from 371), the Health Board says.
Three people died in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of deaths from causes related to the coronavirus to 195.
Health board monitoring over 29,000 people
The Health Board is divided into four regions, with the bulk of the monitoring – including those who have contracted the virus – coming in the northern and eastern regions.
The northern region is monitoring over 19,000 people, of whom 4,344 have contracted coroanvirus-
The eastern region is monitoring 6,000 people, with 1,591 of these being sick.
The southern region has 2,600 individuals under monitoring; 656 of them have COVID-19.
The western region is currently monitoring 1,800 people, of whom 434 have coronavirus.
Hospitalizations, recovery rate and testing
As of December 24, 365 people are hospitalized due to COVID-19, with 32 of them in intensive care. 21 people are on ventilators.
Thirty-three new coronavirus case files were opened in the past 24 hours, the Health Board says.
Twenty-seven people were discharged from hospital, and eight individuals were transferred to a non-COVID-19 ward.
Three people suffering from coronavirus died over the past 24 hours, two men aged 84, and one man aged 88. A total of 195 people infected with COVID-19 have died in Estonia since the pandemic began.
The Health Board says 1,238 coroanvirus cases have been wrapped up in 1,214 individuals (some individuals had more than one coronavirus case associated with them, hence the discrepancy).
As of December 24, 15,045 individuals have been declared recovered from COVID-19, the board says. 75.9 percent of these (11,413 people) have had their case closed by a health professional, while the remaining 3,632 individuals (24.1 percent) meet the triple criteria of not having tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 28 days, not currently being hospitalized due to the coronavirus, and not awaiting confirmation of their case being wrapped up.
A total of 604,485 primary coronavirus tests have been administered in Estonia since spring 2020, with 24,009 returning positive, giving a rate of 4 percent.
More detailed information in English is available at the koroonakaart site here.
How can the spread of coronavirus be stopped?
- The most efficient measure is keeping your distance.
- In crowded places and especially indoors where it is not possible to keep your distance from other people, it is advisable to wear a mask.
- Closed, crowded spaces should be avoided if possible.
- Hands must be washed frequently with soap and warm water.
- When you sneeze or cough, cover your mouth and nose with disposable tissue.
- Anyone who becomes ill should stay at home, even if their symptoms are mild.
- People who develop any symptoms should contact their family physician.
Download 'HOIA'
You can also download Estonia's coronavirus exposure notification app 'HOIA' which will alert you if you have been in close contact with someone who later tests positive for coronavirus.
The free app can be downloaded at the Google Play Store or App Store. Read ERR News' feature about the app here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte