COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia | |
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Total number of COVID-19 cases in Estonia per 10,000 inhabitants:
Confirmed > 3300 to 3600 per 10,000
Confirmed > 3600 to 3900 per 10,000
Confirmed > 3900 to 4200 per 10,000
Confirmed > 4200 to 4500 per 10,000
Confirmed > 4500 to 4800 per 10,000
Confirmed > 4800 to 5100 per 10,000 | |
Disease | COVID-19 |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
Location | Estonia |
Index case | Tallinn |
Arrival date | 27 February 2020 (4 years, 1 month and 23 days) |
Confirmed cases | 610,294 |
Recovered | 616,311 (updated 23 July 2023) |
Deaths | 2,997 |
Fatality rate | 0.49% |
Vaccinations |
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Government website | |
Estonian Health Board (in Estonian) |
The virus was confirmed to have spread to Estonia when the first case was confirmed in Tallinn on 27 February 2020. By 11 March, 15 people in Estonia had been diagnosed with the virus. All of them had been infected outside the country, mostly in Northern Italy. On 12 March, the first cases of locally transmitted infections emerged, and on 13 March, the Estonian government declared a state of emergency until 1 May 2020. As a result, all schools and universities were closed, and all public gatherings were banned, including sports and cultural events. Later the state of emergency was extended until 17 May.
Saare County was the hardest hit county in Estonia by the COVID-19 during spring. It has only 2.5% of the population of Estonia, but in March, it had over half of all hospitalized patients. Coronavirus was allegedly brought there by the Italian volleyball club Power Volley Milano, which participated in the 2019–20 CEV Challenge Cup matches held on Saaremaa island on 4 and 5 March. The virus may have spread rapidly in the community through a champagne festival held later on. Health officials estimate that half of the island's population have contracted the virus so far. In autumn during the second wave, Ida-Viru County and Harju County were hit hardest.
At the beginning of the pandemic, most of the cases came in from Austria and Italy, but in the second part of the year 2020, Russia, Ukraine, and Finland took the lead.
In the first months of 2021 situation grow worse and by mid-March Estonia had the most new cases per capita in the world. Starting from March 11 stronger measures were taken to suppress the spread of the virus.
As of 21 January 2023, 2,192,989 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Estonia.