The next wave of COVID-19 to hit Estonia is expected to be less severe, said Peep Talving, medical director and board member at North Estonia Medical Center (PERH). Hospitals themselves are likewise better prepared, although not all isolation facilities have yet finished being built.
Heads of major hospitals find that vaccination of people in risk groups is still the most effective measure for alleviating next fall's coronavirus wave and avoiding lockdowns. There is no way to hire enough extra staff or refit hospitals before then.
While figures last week suggested a fall in Covid rates in Estonia, the real picture may be obscured by a scaling down in PCR testing, ETV news show 'Aktuaalne kaamera' (AK) reported on Monday. The peak of the current wave may therefore still lie in the future.
The number of patients admitted to hospital is expected to rise as the Omicron coronavirus strain is spreading rapidly, the chief physician of the North Estonia Medical Center (PERH) said on Tuesday.
Virology professor Toivo Maimets, who is to head up the new composition of the government's Covid advisory body, the scientific council, has proposed North Estonia Medical Center chief-of-medicine and surgery professor Peep Talving to continue together in the council.