COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia

The government declared a state of emergency on 13 March 2020 with a number of epidemiological safety measures and restrictions, primarily limiting gatherings, travel, most public venues, and educational institutions.

The rates spiked again by the end of September, from a few dozen per day to low hundreds by November, and many of the restrictions were restored and tightened, including a range of new ones.

[3] On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.

It also recommended everyone returning from China and experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus infection to seek medical advice and information about their travel and contacts.

[9] On 3 February, a Latvian citizen living in Wuhan was evacuated with a French government plane and taken to Paris, where she was quarantined for 14 days before being allowed to depart to Riga.

[10][11] On 11 February, Latvia donated protective clothing, masks, respirators and other epidemic prevention and control supplies to China.

[18][19] The same day the Latvian government allocated an additional 2.6 million euros to the Ministry of Health for various anti-coronavirus measures.

[21] Between 8 and 10 March, the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control carried out 274 tests and confirmed seven more cases for people who had recently returned from Northern Italy.

[27] On 13 March, the government announced a billion euro support for businesses affected by coronavirus provided as "financial instruments" (such as tax holidays or sick leave pay) via the state-owned ALTUM development bank.

[30][31] In preparation of a possible COVID-19 patient influx most of the hospitals began reducing or stopping most unrelated scheduled and outpatient treatment, with the exception of critical operations.

[32] On 25 March the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Infectious Disease Risk Analysis and Prevention Department director Jurijs Perevoščikovs reported the first COVID-19 patients with no clear epidemiological links to any other infection cases or trips abroad, pointing to the start of COVID-19 transmission within the Latvian society.

New restrictions also prohibited all private arrangements (except funerals), public events, meetings, processions, pickets, indoor sports and religious activities.

Trading and public catering venues were still allowed to hold more people while maintaining the 2-metre distance and observing safety measures.

Various other measures were also adopted, such as prioritisation of medical item supply for national purposes or the government's right to request information from electronic communications operators on specific persons for epidemiological investigation.

Notably, starting 12 May, outdoor and up to 3-hour indoor gatherings of up to 25 people would be allowed while observing the two-metre distancing and providing disinfectants.

[45] At the start of July, Dumpis remarked that the greatest risk of new cases came from travel and import of the virus from other countries.

[49] By the end of July, epidemiologist Jurijs Perevoščikovs, director of the SPKC's Department for Risk Analysis and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, said that stricter restrictions were not needed at the time.

[52] After a regular weekly meeting, Levits and Kariņš stated that various contingency plans being made for the likely second wave of the virus.

[53] Dumpis argued that keeping the rates low in Latvia relied heavily upon measures and stricter rules in other countries.

[78] By mid-November, the testing queue waiting time had significantly decreased, following an earlier change in application procedures.

[82] Following a further increase in daily cases and hospitals approaching capacity, a range of new restrictions were expected to come into effect on 21 December.

[87] Karins expressed mistrust in the Minister of Health Viņķele due to the lack of a vaccination plan and requested her resignation.

[104] On 16 February, the government approved a one-time 500 euro childcare benefit payment plan to families for children aged 0 to 15, 15 to 20 for those still in education, and all newborns until 6 April.

[140] The number of cases had reduced by 60% over the preceding five weeks,[141] and the morbidity rate per 100,000 inhabitants over 14-day period fell below 200 for first time since November.

[144] By mid-July, the number of new infections was dropping by 36% compared to the preceding week,[145] and remained at standstill towards the end of the month.

[154] By mid-August, the spread of the Delta strain had accounted for 95% of all cases compared to 18% in early July,[155] and rose to 98% by late August.

[170] On 28 September, the government decided that from 11 October nearly all services and activities would have to be organised so that all staff and visitors had to be vaccinated, recovered, or have a negative test.

[176] On 21 October, a nearly month-long lockdown period began with strengthened security measures and restrictions on the movement, including a curfew between the hours of 20:00 and 05:00 and suspension of the majority of stores and services.

[180] On 4 November, the Latvian Parliament authorised businesses to suspend and subsequently fire workers who refused vaccination or a transfer to remote work.

The restrictions came as a result of a surge in case count, and to "promote public confidence in the government's policies to control COVID-19 infections", according to the legislation's sponsor, Jānis Rancāns.