In extreme situation, intensive care patients might be transported abroad - Pavluts

  • 2021-10-25
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - In extreme situation, intensive care patients might be transported abroad, said Health Minister Daniels Pavluts (For Development/For) in an interview with commercial TV3 television on Sunday.

The minister did not name the exact number of hospitalized patients when this scenario should be applied. He reminded that earlier 1,500 Covid-19 patients in hospitals was the critical number, but now Covid-19 patients are being treated wherever it is possible. 

He said that the Health Ministry is working on scenarios in case the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients exceed 3,000. In this situation, international assistance will be asked. 

"We have warned our foreign partners that we might need teams of medics, in extreme cases, maybe even transport intensive care patients abroad," said Pavluts.

As reported, in order to assist Latvia in the fight against Covid-19, Sweden will send Latvia additional equipment for treatment of Covid-19 patients. The Swedish embassy in Latvia said on a Twitter post that Sweden will assist Latvia with 120 ventilators, 30 pumps and more than 300 monitors.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told this Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) during the EU summit in Brussels.

LETA learned from Karins' office that Latvia's responsible services have used the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to ask the EU member state for support to improve capacity of Latvia's health care system and the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients is steeply growing.

Prime ministers of several EU member states confirmed in a conversation with Karins that they are ready to provide support.

"Thanks to Sweden who also publicly has voiced readiness to provide support," said Karins.