While the Covid infection rates are showing signs of either stabilization or slight decline in most regions of Estonia, the omicron variant is still rising in the Health Board's (Terviseamet) eastern region, making for an overall growth. The rate of spread may only start to fall from next week, the board says.
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.
The government will definitely not start lifting anti-coronavirus restrictions in large numbers, Minister of Health and Labor Tanel Kiik (Center) said on Wednesday. The Health Board has said cases are rising in schools.
Kiik told reporters that the government, which is currently in the process of discussing restrictions, will definitely not opt to abolish them en masse. He added that several states that have relaxed their restrictions in haste after a decline in the infection rate are now facing yet another increase.
The infection rate in Estonia is currently 0.95, but the figure may rise rapidly if restrictions are relaxed drastically.