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.

06.09.22 NEWS ... New coronavirus cases dropped by 20 percent last week and the danger level on the risk matrix has also fallen, data from the Health Board's weekly forecast shows.

03.09.22 NEWS ... A court on Wednesday found that two Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) employees were illegally dismissed after declining to get fully vaccinated against Covid.

02.09.22 NEWS ... Tallinn Administrative Court on Wednesday issued rulings on two administrative matters in which it declared the dismissal of officers who had refused to vaccinate against COVID-19 from service unlawful.

02.09.22 NEWS ... Household consumers whose consumption levels are modest will benefit from the compensation for high energy prices as announced in principle yesterday, Thursday, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Riina Sikkut (SDE) says.

01.09.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Around 42 million personal protective equipment (PPE) items are currently languishing in the Estonian Stockpiling Agency's (EVK) warehouses. Purchased at the peak of the Covid pandemic, finding a use for the stock is not easy, ERR reports.

30.08.22 CORONAVIRUS ... 2,863 new cases of Covid emerged in the past week, week 34 of 2022 the Health Board (Terviseamet) says, down from 3,606 in week 33.

30.08.22 NEWS ... Results of the most recent wave of the COVID-19 prevalence study led by the University of Tartu (TÜ) indicate that nearly one in 30 adults in Estonia is currently infected with the COVID virus and is still contagious, comparable to late March figures. According to researchers, however, there is no cause for alarm as the course of the disease is now mostly mild.

30.08.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Both the Health Board (Terviseamet) and the government's coronavirus advisory council find that neither remote learning nor mandatory rapid testing is required in schools, ahead of the new academic year, which starts Thursday, ETV news show 'Aktuaalne kaamera' (AK) reported Monday.

29.08.22 CORONAVIRUS ... Provided no new or more severe Covid strains emerge, there is no cause for concern or need to re-enter lockdown or instigate mandatory testing in schools as the new academic year approaches, head of the government's coronavirus advisory body Toivo Maimets said.

26.08.22 NEWS ... One of the criteria for reclassifying COVID-19, currently classified as a dangerous novel communicable disease, as a regular communicable disease, is the arrival of COVID drugs that can be administered at home at Estonian pharmacies, said Ragnar Vaiknemets, chief of the Health Board's Crisis Headquarters.

26.08.22 NEWS ... Advisor to the justice chancellor, molecular biologist Martin Kadai said there is no reason to talk about wide-ranging restrictions this fall as the situation has changed fundamentally. Kadai told ERR that there is little sense also in testing for the coronavirus in schools as chasing the virus is no longer necessary, nor does he support ordering people to wear masks.

23.08.22 NEWS ... As of the morning of Monday, August 22, a total of 117 people in Estonia were hospitalized with COVID-19. In all, 3,606 new cases of COVID were diagnosed last week, and another just under 1,300 new lab-confirmed cases can be expected this week, the Health Board said in its weekly forecast.