General practitioner provided for foreign students quarantined at the Raatuse dormitory

According to the most recent information, no further coronavirus cases have been found at the Raatuse dormitory in Tartu. In cooperation, the Tartu Ambulance Foundation and the Health Board assigned a general practitioner to all infected foreign students at the dormitory, who will be responsible for advising and later declaring the students free of infection again.

Mayor Urmas Klaas, head of the Tartu crisis team, says that all parties have worked very well together. “I hope that this infection hotspot will now stop expanding. This was a very good example of how the coronavirus spreads first and foremost through social gatherings. These should be avoided at all costs. We have been in contact with other operators and managers of university dormitories in Tartu, and we have given them recommendations on how to prevent such situations,” added Klaas.

16 students who have tested positive must stay in isolation until their health is restored, and they are prohibited from leaving their apartment. 39 persons, who have had contact with those infected yet who have tested negative themselves, must also stay quarantined in the dormitory for at least two weeks. In cooperation, the Tartu Ambulance Foundation and the Health board found a general practitioner, who will advise the infected foreign students and later declare them free of infection. In addition, those in isolation are also provided psychological support in isolation, if needed.

Those residents whose test results were negative and who had not had contact with those infected can continue to move around as usual. Persons who do not live in the dormitory are not granted entrance. The restriction on movement is monitored by the police based on identity documents.

In cooperation with the Student Village, the University of Tartu has organised catering for the residents in isolation, provided personal protective equipment and disinfectants, ensured that they have the opportunity to do laundry, and arranged for the safe collection of their waste.

A strategic headquarter has been set up to resolve the situation, which includes representatives from the Tartu City Government, the University of Tartu, the Estonian Health Board, the Southern rescue centre, the Southern Prefecture, the Tartu emergency medical care centre, and the NGO Tartu Student Village. Mayor Urmas Klaas is leading the work of the team. To fulfil the tasks set for the University of Tartu and NGO Tartu Student Village, a crisis headquarter has also been set up at the University of Tartu, led by the university’s Academic Secretary Tõnis Karki.

Additional information:
Urmas Klaas, Tartu Mayor, +372 513 5145, urmas.klaas@raad.tartu.ee
Tõnis Karki, University of Tartu academic secretary, +372 529 7917, tonis.karki@ut.ee
Margo Klaos, head of operations for the emergency situation in the Southern region, +372 503 5112, margo.klaos@rescue.ee