State of emergency in Latvia to be extended until April

  • 2021-02-03
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - The Cabinet of Minister and the Crisis Management Council agreed today to extend the state of emergency in Latvia until April 6, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) told the press today.

The state of emergency was declared on November 9, 2020, in order to curb Covid-19 spread. A number of restrictions are in force during the state of emergency.

The Health Ministry proposed that the state of emergency could be lifted when Covid-19 incidence in Latvia declined three times.

The Health Ministry also proposed a new Covid-19 risk management strategy, stating four epidemiological indicator groups on which the restrictions will be based. Currently Latvia is in the dark red category as the cumulative 14-day Covid-19 incidence is 561.26 cases per 100,000 residents.

According to the Health Ministry's proposal, the state of emergency in Latvia should be in force as long as the country is in the dark red category, but it can be lifted when Latvia shifts to the red category, and some restrictions might be eased then.

Cumulative 14-day incidence from 100 to 200 cases per 100,000 residents would place Latvia in the red category, 20-100 cases per 100,000 residents would place the country in the orange category, while below 20 cases per 100,000 residents would place Latvia in the green or low risk category.

The Health Ministry also has proposed to ban insignificant trips and travelers will have to state the reason for travel.