As the incidence of Covid-19 continued to rise, the government on Tuesday decided to impose greater restrictions on gatherings, order the wearing of face masks at points of sale, stations and elsewhere, and temporarily ban indoor sports training.
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The requirement for face masks will take effect on October 14, but other additional restrictions – from October 17, the Minister of Health Ilze Ņķele (AP) pointed out. The Ministry of Health (MoE) explained that the prevalence of Covid-19 was due to a lack of public precautions. This is especially the case in unorganized events, where there is no one in charge of planning and implementing precautionary measures.
Consequently, it is stipulated that a maximum of 30 people may gather at private events. This number is equated to pre-defined groups of people who were allowed to gather without distance, in sports training, children’s camps and the like. It is also stipulated that private events may not gather more than 300 people outdoors.
As the high-risk environment for the spread of Covid-19 is also entertainment venues with alcohol consumption and uncontrolled gatherings, and the awareness that most of these companies are registered as catering providers, the time and number of people providing these services will be limited. staying in these places.
It is stipulated that catering services are provided until 24.00, except for takeaway meals, and it is stipulated that no more than four people who are not members of the same household will be able to be at one table.
At the same time, mouth and nose masks will have to be used at points of sale – shops, including supermarkets, post offices, petrol stations and other places where sales take place. Their use will also be mandatory at railway stations, bus stations, airports, as well as cultural and religious venues, provided that there is no event organized in fixed, personalized seating.
Mouth and nose masks will also have to be used, for example, by visitors to museums, exhibition halls, libraries, religious sites if they have gone there to see a museum exposition, exhibition, attend a service or for other similar reasons. However, if an event is held in these places, such as a library or a place of religious activity, where persons are in fixed personalized seating, persons will not have to use mouth and nose covers. Mouth and nose pads will also have to be used by staff working in these areas and are not separated from visitors by a physical barrier.
As before, this requirement to wear face masks will not apply to children under 13 years of age.
At the same time, as indicated by the Ministry of Agriculture, the prevalence of Covid-19 is also related to the activities of sports teams, therefore collective sports activities or indoor training will be prohibited for a month. The amendments stipulate that collective amateur sports events can only take place outdoors without the use of changing rooms, but only individual sports activities will take place indoors.
The mentioned restriction will not be applied to the Latvian adult team, Latvian Olympic team and Latvian Paralympic team athletes, as well as team sports games of the highest league team sports training for adults.
It will also be forbidden to organize sports events from October 17 to November 6. This prohibition will not apply to international sports events, as well as team sports competitions of the highest league team sports competitions for adults.
It has already been reported that in Latvia for three weeks a rapid increase in the incidence of Covid-19 has been observed. Current data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control show that the morbidity rate in Latvia has reached 55.63 cases per 100,000 population, while a week ago – on October 6 – the morbidity rate was 31.25 cases.
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