COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia

COVID-19 pandemic in Estonia
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, 2 months and 27 days)
Confirmed cases	610,366[1]
Recovered	616,311 (updated 23 July 2023) [2]
Deaths	2,998[1]
Fatality rate	0.49%
Vaccinations	870,180[1] (total vaccinated) 862,713[1] (fully vaccinated) 2,171,157[1] (doses administered)
Government website
Estonian Health Board (in Estonian)

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).

The virus was confirmed to have spread to Estonia when the first case was confirmed in Tallinn on 27 February 2020.^[3] 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.^[4][5] On 12 March, the first cases of locally transmitted infections emerged,^[6] 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.^[7] Later the state of emergency was extended until 17 May.^[8]

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.^[9] 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.^[10][11][12] In autumn during the second wave, Ida-Viru County and Harju County were hit hardest.^{[citation needed]}

At the beginning of the pandemic, most of the cases came in from Austria and Italy,^[13] but in the second part of the year 2020, Russia, Ukraine, and Finland took the lead.^[14]

In the first months of 2021 situation grow worse and by mid-March Estonia had the most new cases per capita in the world.^[15] 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.^[16]