More restrictions against the coronavirus are likely within the next 12 days, health minister Tanel Kiik (Center) said Wednesday. How far-ranging they depend on the situation with the virus and in particular hospitalizations over the next week-and-a-half.
There will be between 1,500-1,700 new daily cases of coronavirus by the end of the month, the Health Board has forecast. But there will only be 450 patients in hospital.
Plans to end extensive PCR coronavirus testing and move to antigen tests are being mulled by the government, Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik (Center) said on Wednesday.
The infection rate R is still at 0.9 in Harju County but in some regions it has risen to almost 1, Deputy Director General of the Estonian Health Board Mari-Anne Harma said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) said infection rates in Estonia are deteriorating and are not moving in the direction the government would like. The Health Board has said infections are rising among school children.
Answering questions from MPs on Wednesday, Kallas stated that infection rates are getting worse . She pointed out that 798 new positive tests were registered in 24 hours and there are 449 patients in hospital. All the figures indeed show that the situation is not good at all, Kallas said.
She said surveys show that people s sense of danger has decreased. If people do not feel that the risk is high, then people will not behave responsibly, she said, adding that researchers also say self-discipline is the best way to control the virus.