Government expert: Up to 200 likely hospitalized with COVID-19 next month
The member of the government's coronavirus advisory board Mario Kadastik said that by the beginning of September, one- to two-hundred people could need hospital treatment due to the coronavirus. He added that when the vaccination stops, broader restrictions should be established.
With the current infection rate of 1.1, around 500 people may end up with a positive test result in September, he said.
A couple of weeks ago, the Health Board had warned that there could be 2,500 infected people per day in September, though this number has since been queried as the "R" rate has fallen from its earlier level of 1.6.
Kadastik said that the delta strain differs from the rest because it can also spread outside. "This means that all sorts of outside events where there are a lot of people are with a high risk," Kadastik said.
Kadastik said that mainly 20-30 year-olds are getting infected at the moment. "Right now, the summer events where young people are partying have been one of the main sources of outbreaks," Kadastik said.
Kadastik said that the rest of the world's statistics have shown that the high vaccination rate keeps the hospital treatment need under control.
"Although the number of infected people is increasing quickly, the hospital numbers are not. But this is in countries where the level of vaccinated people is higher," Kadastik said.
"When the percentage of non-vaccinated people stays too high, then it can happen that it's necessary to start limiting more," he said.
Kadastik predicted that at the beginning of September, there will be around 100 to 200 people in the hospitals. In Kadastik's opinion, this won't require closing the society.
"This will be a matter of discussions when there are over 300-400 positive tests," he said.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
