21.06.24 NEWS ... The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by a police officer who was fired during the coronavirus pandemic for refusing to get vaccinated. However, the court conceded that vaccine refusers should not have been automatically fired.

10.12.23 NEWS ... A 2021 order issued by the commander of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) requiring employees and servicemembers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 had no legal basis, a first-tier court ruled Friday.

10.12.23 NEWS ... After previously hitting Estonian biathletes earlier this season, the majority of the Estonian cross-country ski team at the Östersund World Cup in Sweden this weekend got COVID-19.

22.11.23 NEWS ... The coronavirus pandemic proved that a virus cannot be defeated through restrictions and immunity is not created after a single wave but over several years, professor of virology Irja Lutsar said as one of the authors of a recent coronavirus crisis overview. She believes that Estonia ultimately did well in the pandemic and that now Covid must also end in people's heads.

21.11.23 NEWS ... Like the rest of the world, Estonia was not prepared for the coronavirus pandemic, the crisis hit the Health Board like a tidal wave and cooperation with other agencies was very bumpy at first, a recent study by pollster Kantar Emor reveals. But Estonia is also considered to have handled the crisis rather well in general terms.

16.11.23 NEWS ... Because vaccination is no longer a guaranteed way to avoid catching the coronavirus and the risk of side-effects outweighs the potential benefit of inoculation in the case of Omicron variants, virologist Irja Lutsar suggests healthy young people can skip vaccination this fall.

04.10.23 NEWS ... Both flu and coronavirus are currently spreading in Estonia. Data from the Health Board shows there are more cases in Ida-Viru County.

04.10.23 NEWS ... Virologist Irja Lutsar tells ERR in an interview, commenting on her recently published COVID-19 crisis overview, that Estonia did well in the coronavirus pandemic in broad strokes, while it was a mistake to close schools and domestic coronavirus certificates proved pointless.

28.07.23 NEWS ... Tallinn Administrative Court dismissed a complaint by MEM Cafe against the actions of Estonia's Health Board and Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), finding that the Health Board's decision to close down the Tallinn cafe in late 2021 was justified and the agencies' COVID-19 restriction-related precepts legitimate.

24.07.23 NEWS ... People have been able to seek compensation for coronavirus vaccine-related health damages in Estonia since last May. Relevant decisions are up to the State Agency of Medicines (Ravimiaemt) but the body has fallen behind in processing claims. While the agency has hired more experts, a fifth of claims are past due.

02.05.23 NEWS ... The Health Board on Tuesday announced it has ended its coronavirus pandemic operations after three years and will now continue to operate as usual.

01.05.23 NEWS ... Sickness benefits will be paid from the fourth day rather than the second from July after the government agreed to return to the pre-pandemic system.

20.03.23 NEWS ... Court uphold several aspects of EKRE complaint over Covid restrictions.

01.03.23 NEWS ... Even though the U.S. Department of Energy and the FBI find that the global coronavirus pandemic probably started in a Chinese laboratory, virologist Andres Merits said that even if one were to believe that, it will probably be impossible to determine where it happened.

23.02.23 NEWS ... Over 700,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines are set to expire this spring and will probably have to be written off. At the same time, Estonia has contracts in place for another 1.3 million doses of Covid vaccines. The National Audit Office recommends reducing incoming quantities.

23.02.23 NEWS ... In the week of February 13-19, a total of 3,163 people in Estonia contracted acute respiratory infections, 40.1 percent of whom were children. In all, 356 new cases of influenza and 1,204 cases of COVID-19 were registered last week, the Health Board said Thursday.

13.02.23 NEWS ... Tourism to Estonia's second-biggest city Tartu has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Only 6 percent of the tourists who visit the country travel to south Estonia and hotels want to build on this in the future.

04.02.23 NEWS ... Leading ministers at the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs are requesting around €26 million in funding from the government to cover additional costs expected to be incurred in the treatment and care of coronavirus patients this year.

01.02.23 NEWS ... The government's coronavirus compensation was unequally distributed among entrepreneurs and contradicts the Constitution, Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise said on Wednesday.

31.01.23 NEWS ... COVID-19 infections in Estonia are down by more than one third and the prevalence of COVID antibodies is increasing, according to the results of the January wave of the final COVID prevalence study to be led by the University of Tartu (TÜ).

26.01.23 NEWS ... Fewer people in Estonia are reporting side effects potentially linked to the coronavirus vaccines, data shows. Experts say more reports are made when people feel pressured to get vaccinated.

26.01.23 NEWS ... In the week of January 16-22, a total of 3,844 people in Estonia contracted acute respiratory infections, 31.7 percent of whom were children. In all, 599 new cases of influenza and 1,169 cases of COVID-19 were registered last week, the Health Board said Thursday.

23.01.23 NEWS ... The coronavirus drug Paxlovid has reached Estonian pharmacies, a year later than originally scheduled. The medicine has been used in hospitals since the turn of the year.

19.01.23 NEWS ... In the week of January 9-15, a total of 4,592 people in Estonia contracted acute respiratory infections, 27.4 percent of whom were children. A total of 567 new cases of influenza and 1,348 new cases of COVID-19 were registered last week, the Health Board said Thursday.

12.01.23 NEWS ... In the week of January 2-8, a total of 5,265 people in Estonia contracted acute respiratory infections, 29 percent of whom were children. A total of 983 new cases of influenza and 1,712 new cases of COVID-19 were registered last week, the Health Board said Thursday.

31.12.22 NEWS ... While head of Estonia's COVID-19 Scientific Council, molecular biologist Toivo Maimets believes people should stay home for five days after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, virologist Irja Lutsar no longer deems it necessary.

30.12.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Experts have agreed there is currently no need for Estonia to introduce new coronavirus measures after China lifted restrictions, creating a new wave of infections, earlier this month.

28.12.22 NEWS ... The Riigikogu has passed a bill which will extend the current sick pay regime into the new year, making the benefit due from day two of a period of illness. This change will not be permanent, however, and is set to run to the summer, as things stand.

21.12.22 NEWS ... The imminent arrival of Covid medicines in Estonian pharmacies leaves few arguments to suggest Covid is still a novel and dangerous infectious disease, Ragnar Vaiknemets, head of the Health Board's healthcare organization and resilience department, told ERR.

20.12.22 NEWS ... Estonia has taken delivery of 4,000 packages of coronavirus drug Paxlovid, with the Health Insurance Fund working on making sure the drug reaches pharmacies as quickly as possible.

15.12.22 NEWS ... In the week of December 5-11, a total of 5,338 people in Estonia contracted acute respiratory infections, including 2,991 cases of COVID-19 and 804 cases of influenza, 160 of which were laboratory confirmed, the Health Board said Thursday.

22.11.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Estonia's spread of coronavirus remains high for the fourth month in a row due to a new Omicron subtype and people's declining sense of danger, the results of the University of Tartu's (TÜ) latest monitoring study show.

01.11.22 NEWS ... The government says it plans to contest a court decision which upheld complaints from nearly 60 individuals who said that coronavirus restrictions put in place last year infringed their rights.

01.11.22 NEWS ... The government's emergency situation committee convened a scientific council to collect and analyze expert information for the cabinet in March 2020. The contract of the council the main task of which has been to advise ministers on the coronavirus will expire this year.

31.10.22 NEWS ... The Constitutional Review Chamber of the Supreme Court of Estonia ruled that the standards of the Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Act (NETS) are constitutional, however they did not have the explicit jurisdiction to assess orders issued by the Estonian government, Supreme Court Justice Ivo Pilving said on Monday.

31.10.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Norms put in place by a piece of legislation which enabled the government to introduce Covid passports during the pandemic were not in conflict with the Estonian Constitution, a Supreme Court ruling finds. However, the legislature, ie. the Riigikogu, should specify the norms set out by the legislation more clearly, against any future Covid outbreaks, the court added.

26.10.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Free PCR testing for coronavirus carried out by the Health Board will be scrapped as the agency moves to sample-based testing, it was announced on Wednesday.

25.10.22 NEWS ... Despite increasing numbers of COVID-19 vaccine doses beginning to expire, vaccine production is still underway at full capacity. If Estonia doesn't manage to change its contracts, it will eventually have to pay producers for the vaccines already ordered.

25.10.22 NEWS ... According to the latest wave of the COVID-19 prevalence study being led by the University of Tartu (TÜ), the SARS-CoV-2 virus is still spreading rapidly among adults in Estonia. This spread is being fueled by people's disregard for precautions, which is now at its highest yet since the launch of the study.

22.10.22 NEWS ... Infectious diseases specialist at the West Tallinn Central Hospital Dr. Pille Märtin talked about the spread of infectious diseases, coronavirus and precautions on Vikerraadio's "Päevatee" program, finding that vaccination and recovery have left people with an immune memory that helps contain the virus. Where the coronavirus might go next remains a mystery.

18.10.22 NEWS ... The Health Board has no intention of treating the coronavirus as a common infectious disease anytime soon. At the same time, it has no plans to recommend the introduction of new restrictions for time either, said Mari-Anne Härma, deputy director general of the Health Board.

18.10.22 CORONAVIRUS ... The number of new Covid cases in Estonia has fallen slightly on the previous week, the Health Board (Terviseamet) says. 224 people were hospitalized with Covid as of Monday morning.

04.10.22 NEWS ... As of the morning of Monday, October 3, a total of 210 people in Estonia were hospitalized with COVID-19. In all, 3,561 new cases of COVID were diagnosed across the country last week, and another just over 1,400 new lab-confirmed cases can be expected this week, the Health Board said in its weekly forecast.

30.09.22 NEWS ... Family doctors and health service providers will be able to offer coronavirus vaccinations against the Omikron substrains BA.4 and BA.5 from next week.

27.09.22 NEWS ... Coronavirus infection rates in Estonia are falling overall, however, the number of new cases increased by ten percent in the last week. According to the latest data provided by the Estonian Health Board, the number of infections rose by almost a third among those aged 60 and over.

27.09.22 NEWS ... A legal dispute involving a Tartu gym and dating to an application for compensation over police actions taken due to the sports club's non-compliance with Coronavirus regulations has been put to rest.

24.09.22 NEWS ... The Harju County Court ruled on Friday that Tallinn Emergency Response (Tallinna Kiirabi) did not have the right to terminate the employment of 14 employees who refused to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and ordered it to pay the employees compensation, the law firm representing the plaintiffs said.

21.09.22 CORONAVIRUS ... The coronavirus has now lost its immediacy, and as a result must now been seen as any other viral illness, such as influenza, virologist and former head of the government's Covid advisory body Professor Irja Lutsar says.

13.09.22 CORONAVIRUS ... The number of patients hospitalized due to Covid was stable, though fell by 17 over the past week, the Health Board (Terviseamet) says.

07.09.22 CORONAVIRUS ... The Health Board (Terviseamet) is purchasing new cold storage units for its warehouse via a state procurement. The purchase is require as one of the approved Covid vaccine manufacturers, Moderna, is using different vials than earlier, and the containers will take up twice as much space as was the case previously.