With the increasing spread of Covid-19 in Latvia, it has been decided to extend the current safety measures until 25 January. These measures apply both to on-site sales with a specific list of the essential goods and to the educational process. The curfew hours have also been extended, meaning that a curfew will be in force on all weekends until 25 January during the night hours from 22.00 to 5.00. At the same time, in order to mitigate the economic effects of the Covid-19 crisis, the government has conceptually agreed to extend the availability of support mechanisms (the ministries are still working on a detailed legal framework). These decisions were made on 7 January during the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Until 25 January, the trade and services sector shall continue complying with the safety measures and restrictions already in place, in order to prevent people from gathering in shops and locations of the provision of services, which in turn increases the risk of being infected with Covid-19. However, the government has extended the list of essential goods by including hats, scarves, gloves, snow shovels and other goods.
Until 25 January, in-person shopping will continue to only be allowed in grocery stores, pharmacies, fuel stations and other points of sale, which are selling essential goods. Please keep in mind that the supply of goods available in distance trade and e-commerce has not been limited, and people are actively encouraged to use these services.
The government has decided to extend the curfew, meaning that people will have to stay at their place of residence during the night hours from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday. This restriction of movement will be in force on the weekends until 25 January. If essential movement is necessary during these hours, people are allowed to go to work and receive emergency services on the condition that they have filled in the self-certification form.
In order to continue to support the population most affected by the spread of Covid-19, funds have been allocated for the continuation of parental benefit, for sickness benefit expenses, for the young specialist benefit, and for top-ups of idle time and unemployment benefits. Municipalities have received funding to compensate for the costs of the crisis benefits.
In order not to endanger the health of pupils and teachers, a decision has been made to extend the winter holidays for pupils in years 1-4 until 25 January. In turn, pupils in years 5-6 shall resume their studies remotely from 11 January. Please note that pupils in years 7-12, as well as students of vocational education institutions and universities have already been studying remotely since 4 January.
After assessing the lending of library books as having a low risk of infection with Covid-19, a decision has been made to open libraries from 12 January, so that they can resume the lending of books. Library reading rooms will remain closed. With the exception of museum outdoor expositions, other cultural services and sites will only remain accessible remotely.
In order to provide opportunities for communication, the government order allows for parents to meet their children who live in other households.
The changes also affect international passenger transport. From 15 January, passengers who intend to use international passenger transport services in order to arrive in Latvia by plane, bus or train will have to take a Covid-19 test 72 hours before their departure. The carrier's services will only be available to passengers who will have tested negative. This requirement also applies to those who intend to arrive in Latvia by private vehicles. The result of the test will have to be indicated in the covidpass.lv questionnaire, which may be checked by the Latvian Border Guard and police representatives.