“The situation is catastrophic,” described the situation in Latvia in an interview with the Delfi portal. Girtas Brigis (lat. Ģirts Briģis). According to the professor, hospitals are so overcrowded that they can no longer accept new patients, so it is being considered to open temporary treatment facilities and seek help abroad.
Girtas Brigis
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– What is the current situation of coronavirus incidence in Latvia?
– I would describe the situation as catastrophic. Because the rate of new cases is growing at a tremendous exponential rate. At present, the two-week morbidity rate has already exceeded 1,600 cases per 100,000 cases. population threshold. This means that the situation is very poor.
Crucially, hospitals are overcrowded, they can no longer accept new COVID-19 patients, and ambulances are looking for where to deliver them.
Of course, patients suffering from other diseases also do not have access to health professionals at this time.
– Has the number of deaths also increased?
– Of course. Daily from coronavirus about 10 to 20 people die. Most of them are older and almost all are unvaccinated. Only a few vaccinated people who have had many other comorbidities have died, but in general, vaccinated people do not die.
– Has this been the case across the country?
– Basically all over the country. The health care system is centralized and sometimes patients have to look for places across the country. It is difficult to distinguish where the situation is worst, but the eastern part of the country – Latgale – is the most problematic, because the vaccination rate is the lowest there.
– What caused it? Maybe national minorities living there are less likely to get vaccinated?
– Can be. But Latvians themselves are not inclined to get vaccinated. Currently, only about half of the country’s population has been vaccinated, about 53 percent. We believe that this is the main reason for the increase in the number of new cases.
Such low vaccination rates are associated with people’s doubts about vaccinations. People are in no hurry to get vaccinated for a variety of reasons.
What worries us most is older people, who are very little vaccinated in Latvia.
– How are you going to remedy this situation and encourage people to get vaccinated more?
– The first decision was presented a week ago. The government decided to introduce a mild or partial carantine unvaccinated people alone. Many restrictions have been imposed on such people, such as a ban on visiting all shops except essential products, cultural events. An obligation to vaccinate employees of certain organizations, such as government as well as the public sector, has been introduced, and employers have the right to require staff to be vaccinated and to dismiss those who refuse to do so.
It will be done, but after a strict four-week quarantine, that is, after November 15th.
Coronavirus in Latvia, Riga East Clinical University Hospital
© DELFI.lv / Viesturs Radovics
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– Tell us more about the restrictions in Latvia from Thursday.
– Yesterday the government decided to start a rather strict quarantine. As a result, a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers has been convened today to decide what measures will be taken when the quarantine starts in Latvia from Thursday.
There is no doubt that schools, all cultural institutions – theaters, museums, most shops will be closed during the quarantine. It will also be forbidden to leave the house in the evenings.
– Have you had such strict quarantine before?
– We had quarantine in the spring, but this will probably be much stricter compared to that.
Coronavirus in Latvia, Riga East Clinical University Hospital
© DELFI.lv / Viesturs Radovics
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– Given the poor situation in Latvia, do you plan to seek help from other countries?
– Yes. Our Government does not rule out such an option. Of course, the situation in our neighbors – Lithuania and Estonia – is also bad and we understand that we cannot ask them for help. But perhaps we would turn to other countries. Of course, this will depend on the future situation. We hope that strict measures will help. But if that doesn’t work, then yes, we’ll apply.
At the same time, our Government is preparing to set up so-called field hospitals for people with coronavirus. It is currently being considered to do so in Riga.
– What is the mood in Latvia now? How does the public react to the knowledge of such strict quarantine?
– It was decided only yesterday. But, of course, great dissatisfaction can be expected, especially from the service sector, who will be financially affected. There will also be outrage at those who do not believe in the existence of a pandemic and the benefits of vaccinations. It can be assumed that there will be dissatisfaction.
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