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Flights from the countries with the highest number of imported Covid-19 cases in Latvia will be selected for the screening test: Germany, British, Sweden, Egyptian, Poland, Italian, Norwegian, Finland, Lithuania, Of Estonia, Of Hungary, Spanish, Russia, Of the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Ukraine, Georgia, Swiss. The selection of flights will be made on a rotating basis.
The mentioned screening testing will be implemented on the basis of the provisions of the Cabinet of Ministers Order No. 720 “On Declaring a State of Emergency”, which envisages intensified testing of migrants in case of epidemiological need. Transit passengers, children under the age of 12, flight crew and other exceptions specified in the order will be able to waive the test.
Saliva samples will be used to make the tests as convenient and expeditious as possible, and the airport has also tailored the boarding sector. The screening test for incoming passengers will be paid from the state budget.
The VM continues to call for the possibility of a voluntary, state-funded Covid-19 test after arrival for people arriving on flights that will not be screened. Laboratory point for voluntary testing of migrants from Schengen areas countries are in waiting room E at the exit of the terminal, while migrants from outside the Schengen area can pass the test in test area C at the arrival terminal before the border control.
The aim of these measures is to extend the period of time as far as possible until the spread of the omicron variant in Latvia. By identifying imported cases of the omicron variant in a timely manner, there is a better chance of ensuring epidemiological control measures to prevent the spread of the infection. It is important that the screening also reveals others SARS-CoV-2 virus variant cases of Covid-19, for which epidemiological control is also important.
During the testing of volunteers at Riga International Airport, the first six imported cases of Covid-19 were recorded, in which specific mutations of the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus were detected in the laboratory. Two cases were confirmed in sequencing. Of the six cases reported, three were infected in Sweden, two in Norway and one in Sweden In Great Britain. In addition, four of these passengers’ contacts have been infected. Therefore, it is important to extend the testing not only to immigrants from countries where the circulation of the omicron variant has been proven in the society, but also to other countries from which the infection is most often introduced into Latvia.
It has already been reported that it was discovered in Latvia last day 481 new cases of Covid-19 infection, but nine infected died.
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