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During the past 24 hours, three deaths of patients with the coronavirus were registered by the authorities in Estonia, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths to 24.
Number of coronavirus related deaths climbs to 24 in Estonia
In the past 24 hours, samples from 1,277 people were tested for coronavirus in Estonia, 3 percent or 37 of which were positive. Of the people who tested positive during the period, 20 are residents of Harju County, six of Tartu County, three of Saaremaa island, two each of Ida-Viru, Järva and Võru counties and one of Pärnu County. The personal identification code of one positive test result could not be ascertained.
As of April 8, a total of 139 patients with COVID-19 were undergoing treatment in Estonian hospitals. Eleven of the patients being treated in intensive care require mechanical ventilation. Altogether 72 patients have been discharged from hospital.
During the past 24 hours, a 92-year-old woman died at the West Tallinn Central Hospital and a 53-year-old woman at Kuressaare Hospital. The Health Board said that they were informed about a third death, the passing of a 73-year-old man at Kuressaare Hospital on Monday, with a delay. Altogether 24 people with COVID-19 have died in Estonia.
In total 24,813 tests for the virus have been conducted in Estonia to date, of which 1,185, or 5 percent, have proved positive. Of the positive samples 37 percent were from Saaremaa and 32 percent from Harju County. Residents of Ida-Viru, Tartu and Võru counties each accounted for 6 percent of total positive test results. Twenty-six percent of the people whose test results have been positive are aged 65 or older.
Starting from Wednesday, family doctors can refer to testing anyone with symptoms indicative of coronavirus regarding whom a reasoned suspicion of presence of the virus exists, regardless of their age and accompanying illnesses. For residents there will be no change to the arrangement of testing, with referral from the patient’s family doctor required and each individual case assessed separately by a doctor.
The purpose of the update of testing strategy is to obtain a more precise epidemiological overview of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Estonia to more precisely assess the interventions to date and plan further measures. If the situation changes, the principles of testing will be again subjected to a review.