The health service in Latvia is now under so much pressure that there is no way around imposing restrictions, the government said.
The threat to the health care system is now so high that there is really only one way out: Lockdown and vaccination.
Such was the gloomy message from Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins late Monday night after the government held a crisis meeting on the rising admissions due to the corona pandemic, which is currently lying like a heavy blanket over the country.
Only about 54 percent of the adult population in Latvia have been fully vaccinated, which is well below the average share of EU countries, which according to figures from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) are about 74 percent .
And the announcement is that from tomorrow awaits the Latvians four weeks of hard lockdown was presented with an apology to those who have received the vaccine.
I must ask all of you vaccinated to bear this burden, and I know it is unreasonable. But that’s how it has to be, because other people are not vaccinated. If we do not bear that burden, everyone will suffer, said Karin.
The reality for the Latvians over the next four weeks seems – unfortunately, one is tempted to say – only too familiar:
Schools, shops, restaurants and cultural institutions must be kept closed, one must not gather in larger gatherings either indoors or outdoors and only essential shops such as pharmacies and grocery stores are allowed to stay open.
And then a curfew will be introduced from 8 pm to 5 am.
The exception is if you have to go to work during that time or, for example, have to leave your home due to a doctor’s visit.
According to the Prime Minister, the goal of the restrictions is to reduce human contact by at least 40 percent.
Second highest infection rate in the EU
Figures from the ECDC show that Latvia is the country in the EU with the second highest infection rate per capita. 100,000 inhabitants, surpassed only by neighboring Lithuania.
In the period 4 October to 18 October, 1313.8 cases of infection were measured per 100,000 inhabitants, where the number for comparison in Denmark in the same period was 161.
According to the Latvian Ministry of Health, 1,286 of the country’s total 8,810 beds in the country’s hospitals are earmarked for covid-19 patients, but in the worst case, according to the assessment, one could already have to use around 1,500 by the end of the week.
▪️DR
