On Saturday morning the Health Board said 70 new cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) had been diagnosed in Estonia in the last 24 hours bringing the total to 640.

Over the last 24 hour period, 1,200 tests were carried out.

New cases were reported in almost every county with Saaremaa seeing the highest at 34.

This was followed by Harju County, which includes Tallinn, with 18 cases, Lääne-Viru County with four, Pärnu County with four and Hiiumaa with three.

Two new positive cases were diagnosed in Ida-Viru County and one each in Jõgeva County, Järva County, Viljandi County, Võru County and Valga County.

As of Friday evening, 48 patients were in need of hospitalization after contracting the coronavirus. Ten people are being treated in intensive care and are in critical condition. In total, 20 people have recovered from the disease and one has died.

Data analysis shows the infection rate by age group as:

30 - 39 years old: 17 percent

40 - 49 years old: 22 percent

50 - 59 years old: 20 percent

60 - 69 years old: 29 percent

Ten days ago, on March 18, the Health Board reported more than half of people who had been infected with coronavirus at that time in Estonia were between 30 and 49 years of age. The over 65s made up only approximately 11 percent of cases at that time. Ten days ago, 258 cases of coronavirus had been recorded in Estonia

In total, more than 9,300 coronavirus tests have been performed in Estonia since January 31.

Starting from Thursday, the Health Board began publishing test results based on the Health Information System (TIS) data. The Health Board could not previously make such inquiries about the Health Information System; the need for using CIS was due to the development of several laboratories' testing capabilities and the involvement of a private partner.

More than 600,000 people worldwide have become infected with coronavirus in China, with the largest number in the United States (nearly 105,000), China (more than 86,000) and Italy (more than 81,000).

* Correction: New cases were originally reported as 645 by the Health Board on Saturday morning, they have been corrected to 640.

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