At a government meeting today, the Minister of Health Daniels Pavļuts (AP) repeatedly called on parents not to send their children to school with the slightest signs of illness, as well as teachers to see them when they see sick children in schools.
The Minister explained that between August 24 and September 26, 13,667 cases of Covid-19 were registered, including 1,658 or 12% of cases were detected as a result of screening of employees and students of educational institutions, including 1,417 or 85.4% of persons aged 6 – 19 years.
3637 cases of Covid-19 were detected in persons aged six to 19 years, including 1417 cases or 39% as a result of screening.
Pavluts emphasized that 57.4% of all Covid-19 cases among students were symptomatic, as revealed by students in a survey of epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC) the day after handing over the sample, so it is important to prevent sick students from going to school. . “They have to stay at home and contact a family doctor and, if necessary, take a Covid-19 test instead of going to school to take the test,” Pavluts called.
Last week, 520 or 12.3% of cases were detected as a result of screening of employees and students of educational institutions, which has increased by 32.3% compared to the previous week.
Outside the screening of educational institutions, 3706 cases were detected, which has increased by 24.6% during the week.
Last week, 152,631 tests were performed, including 91,611 in the screening of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES), which is 43% less than before, when the screening was performed every week. Routine tests were 61,020, an increase of 10% due to a significant increase in the prevalence of Covid-19.
As reported, last week, from September 20 to September 26, the number of Covid-19 cases detected in Latvia increased by 25.5%, while the number of inpatient Covid-19 patients increased by 18.5%.
At the same time, the number of patients with severe disease has increased by 59%.
Of all the tests performed, 60% or 91,611 tests were related to screening of educational institutions, but 40% or 61,020 tests were performed only for the rest of the population. Of the positive cases of Covid-19, 12% or 520 infected were related to educational screening, while 88% or 3706 infected were detected in the rest of the community.
The SPKC indicates that more than half of all infected persons detected in the screening, or 57.4% during the survey, revealed that they had symptoms of the disease.
Last week, an average of 21,804 tests were performed per day, compared with 31,099 a week earlier, and 604 new cases per day last week, compared with an average of 493 Covid-19 cases a week earlier.
According to the SPKC, the increase in morbidity is still observed in all age groups, however, it is most pronounced among ten- to 14-year-old adolescents. Last week, the number of new cases of Covid-19 rose in all regions.
The reproductive rate of Covid-19 infection was 1.21 last week, compared with 1.14 a week earlier. According to the SPKC, this indicates the spread of an infectious disease in the society.
Of the cases of Covid-19 infection detected last week, 3,389 people had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 or had not yet completed a vaccination course, which is 80% of all cases in the past week. In turn, 837 people or 20% of all patients were vaccinated last week.
Comparing the intensity of infection per 100,000 population among vaccinated and unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people, Covid-19 infection was found 3.3 times more often in unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people in Latvia than in fully vaccinated people.
The SPCC notes that as the number of vaccinees increases and the prevalence of Covid-19 infection continues to predominate among non-vaccinated individuals, the overall incidence of vaccinated human infections will increase. However, among vaccinated people, the disease is more often mild and requires less hospitalization, so the proportion of vaccinated and sick people should always be seen in the context of the number of prevented Covid-19 cases in the general population.
The European average of 14 days of cumulative morbidity per 100,000 population continues to decline slightly to 156.8, which is 14.4 less than a week earlier. Meanwhile, Latvia’s indicator has increased from 255.5 to 316.7.
Also, the number of imported Covid-19 cases has increased last week, reaching 60 cases and accounting for 1.4% of all cases in Latvia. Between mid-August and last week, the most common cases in Latvia came from Turkey (47 cases), Belarus, related to Iraqi asylum seekers (40), Russia (39), Great Britain (30), Lithuania (26), Germany (22), Georgia (20), Greece (19), Spain (17), Estonia (14) and Italy (14).
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