Negative Covid-19 test does not cancel travelers' obligation to self-isolate - CDC

RIGA - A negative Covid-19 test result does not cancel incoming travelers' obligation to self-isolate for 10 days upon arriving in Latvia, Jurijs Perevoscikovs, director of the Infectious Diseases Risk Analysis and Prevention Department at the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), told journalists Wednesday.

The CDC expert indicated that a number of European Union (EU) member states have toughened their travel-related safety measures, considering the ongoing spread of the coronavirus. 

Perevoscikovs underlined the necessity to stem the international spread of the new Covid-19 variant, which is significantly more transmissible than the original virus.

"It is important for us to ensure the safety of passengers. Travelers have 72 hours for taking the test before they depart from the country. The 72 hours are meant for giving the sample, not receiving the result,"  Perevoscikovs explained. 

He said that it is essential to take the Covid-19 test before the trip, as the person can still be infected even if the Covid-19 test has been negative, because the incubation period of the disease is 14 days.