Half of the coronavirus patients hospitalized in the University of Tartu Hospital are aged over 70, similarly to spring 2020. COVID-19 patient mortality is 14 percent in the hospital, which is very high compared with all other patients requiring hospital treatment.

"This is a severe and fatal illness," Starkopf said, adding that any jests on how old people dying is an ordinary thing are deeply inappropriate.

Altogether 51 coronavirus patients were undergoing treatment in the University of Tartu Hospital as of Sunday morning, five of whom had been admitted during the preceding 24 hours. 11 patients required intensive care, and six of these patients were on mechanical ventilation. No patients had died in the past day.

A number of COVID-19 patients who are no longer reflected in official statistics are still undergoing treatment in the University of Tartu Hospital. Three long-term COVID-19 patients in intensive care, for instance, are no longer infectious, and there are also some 20 patients who have been hospitalized with the coronavirus and are now undergoing treatment in other departments of the hospital.

The infection rate has grown over the past few weeks in Tartu and all of southern Estonia, which means that the need for hospital bed places will grow in mid-March, Tartu Postimees reported (link in Estonian).

"We currently have enough capability for admitting new patients. All of this is very changing and dynamic, however, just like in nature. It's like watching sea waves," he said.

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