The COVID-19 pandemic in Latvia was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Latvia on 2 March 2020, having been brought along with people returning from abroad.
The government declared a state of emergency on 13 March 2020 with a number of epidemiological safety measures and restrictions, primarily limiting gatherings, travel, most public venues, and educational institutions. As the new confirmed cases stayed in the low two-digit range per day, the emergency was periodically extended until mid-2020, when the confirmed infection case dropped to almost 0 and the state of emergency ended on 9 June 2020. Most restrictions were lifted.
The rates spiked again by the end of September, from a few dozen per day to low hundreds by November, and many of the restrictions were restored and tightened, including a range of new ones. Eventually, a new state of emergency was reinstated on 9 November 2020 with increased rules and restrictions, while the daily cases reached close to one thousand by the end of November. The number of cases kept rising at the turn of the year and the state of emergency was extended to 6 April 2021. The vaccination programme began at the start of the year.
As of 21 January 2023, 2,974,692 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Latvia.
Timeline
January 2020
On 31 January 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia updated their travel advice, calling on travellers not to travel to Hubei and assess the need to travel to China in general. It also recommended everyone returning from China and experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus infection to seek medical advice and information about their travel and contacts.
February 2020
On 3 February, a Latvian citizen living in Wuhan was evacuated with a French government plane and taken to Paris, where she was quarantined for 14 days before being allowed to depart to Riga. On 11 February, Latvia donated protective clothing, masks, respirators and other epidemic prevention and control supplies to China.
On 27 February, Estonia confirmed the first COVID-19 case, an Iranian citizen fell ill on board a bus from Riga to Tallinn and called himself an ambulance from Tallinn bus station. He had originally departed from Iran, and flown from Turkey to Riga, spending at least 2.5 hours in Riga and using public transport. By 2 March, 114 people had been tested for COVID-19, all tests coming out negative.
March 2020
On 2 March, the Latvian Ministry of Health confirmed the first positive case of COVID-19 in Latvia. The infected person was a woman who had flown from Milan to Riga through Munich. The day after her condition had improved considerably and a repeated test came out negative she was discharged from the Latvian Center of Infectious Diseases with instructions to remain in self-insolation for 14 days. The same day the Latvian government allocated an additional 2.6 million euros to the Ministry of Health for various anti-coronavirus measures. Minister of Health Ilze Viņķele rated country's preparedness for coronavirus 8 out of 10. Between 8 and 10 March, the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control carried out 274 tests and confirmed seven more cases for people who had recently returned from Northern Italy.
On 12 March, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš announced that the government had declared a state of emergency and that starting 13 March and until 14 April large public gatherings with over 200 people were banned and schools would conduct distance learning, along with other safety recommendations.
On 13 March, the government announced a billion euros of support for businesses affected by coronavirus provided as "financial instruments" (such as tax holidays or sick leave pay) via the state-owned ALTUM development bank.
A list of emergency measures took effect on 14 March. On 14 March, Kariņš announced that starting 17 March international travel would be halted, however, this would not affect private travel within the European Union, returning citizens or flow of goods. Furthermore, organised public events are banned and other gatherings may not exceed 50 participants.
In preparation for a possible COVID-19 patient influx, most of the hospitals began reducing or stopping most unrelated scheduled and outpatient treatment, with the exception of critical operations. On 25 March the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Infectious Disease Risk Analysis and Prevention Department director Jurijs Perevoščikovs reported the first COVID-19 patients with no clear epidemiological links to any other infection cases or trips abroad, pointing to the start of COVID-19 transmission within the Latvian society.
On 29 March, the government adopted a number of stricter regulations. Foremost, everyone had to maintain a 2-metre distance and observe epidemiological safety measures in private and public events, as well as during public indoor and outdoor activities. Exceptions were given for 2 people, those living in the same household or parents and their minor children if they didn't live in the same household. New restrictions also prohibited all private arrangements (except funerals), public events, meetings, processions, pickets, indoor sports and religious activities. Trading and public catering venues were still allowed to hold more people while maintaining the 2-metre distance and observing safety measures. Various other measures were also adopted, such as prioritisation of medical item supply for national purposes or the government's right to request information from electronic communications operators on specific persons for epidemiological investigation.
Mid 2020
On 7 April, The Cabinet of Ministers decided to extend the state of emergency by another month until 12 May with the same restrictions in place.
On 7 May, The Cabinet of Ministers extended the state of emergency until 9 June, but eased some of the restrictions. Notably, starting 12 May, outdoor and up to 3-hour indoor gatherings of up to 25 people would be allowed while observing the two-metre distancing and providing disinfectants. A mouth and nose cover would be required in public transport. Travel and tourism would also be allowed within the three Baltic states. By 22 May, travel from the EU was reopened. On 22 May, the contact-tracing app "Apturi Covid" (lit. Stop Covid) was released that could be voluntarily downloaded and followed Google and Apple API standards.
The state of emergency ended on 10 June, while restrictions remained in effect—face cover in public transport, 2-metre distancing, as well as various restrictions on gatherings and public events. On 16 June, the government met with various experts to discuss the possible second wave. Dumpis warned that the pandemic was not over and that the situation had to be closely monitored. Starting from 10 June, state-paid tests were made available. Originally intended to end at the end of June, state-paid testing was extended to the end of summer.
At the start of July, Dumpis remarked that the greatest risk of new cases came from travel and import of the virus from other countries. The small outbreaks observed the following week were attributed to personal gatherings. Due to the case increase, some restrictions were restored for catering facilities. On 15 July, penalties for not observing the self-isolation rules were approved. By the end of July, epidemiologist Jurijs Perevoščikovs, director of the SPKC's Department for Risk Analysis and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, said that stricter restrictions were not needed at the time. On 20 July, testing was made mandatory for guest workers, Perevoščikovs remarked that guest workers would not significantly increase the risk of infection.
After a regular weekly meeting, Levits and Kariņš stated that various contingency plans being made for the likely second wave of the virus.
Dumpis argued that keeping the rates low in Latvia relied heavily upon measures and stricter rules in other countries. By 25 September, arrival from all EU countries (except The Vatican) required self-isolation upon arrival in Latvia.
October 2020
In October, the infection rates increased 11-fold from September. Use of face covers became mandatory on public transport on 7 October, and other public places on 14 October, along with other restrictions. Dumpis urged the prioritising of social distancing over masks. Rural areas saw a reusable mask deficit. By 19 October, Latvia had seen a record number of confirmed cases, and restrictions on gatherings and remote study were further tightened by 24 October. On 29 October, fines were introduced for not wearing a face cover in enclosed public places.
Testing also saw long queues in October due to lack of personnel, with up to 11 days in rural areas. Voluntary tests were suspended, and new testing locations were planned.
November 2020
At the start of November, the Cabinet of Ministers was divided on instating a new state of emergency, while Levits supported it. Dumpis explained that travel and mobility has been the cause of rapidly rising case numbers and that stricter restrictions were necessary because society had not fully followed even the light restrictions before. The SPKC reported that 50% of new cases could not be tracked to a source, and infected persons have many contact persons, which suggests that restrictions are not being observed. A study showed that social activity had returned to a level before the pandemic linking the decrease in social distancing with the rise of new cases. On 6 November, the government declared a second state of emergency to begin on 9 November. The restrictions on gatherings, events, sports activities, catering and education were further tightened. Following local outbreaks, municipalities and regions were faced with additional tighter restrictions, and the government announced that the list of affected regions would be reviewed every week based on the infection rate. Overall, the infection rates doubled in November. Dumpis had remarked that distancing restrictions were still likely not being observed as evident by the increasing case rates.
By mid-November, the testing queue waiting time had significantly decreased, following an earlier change in application procedures. As the case rate doubled in November, the testing only increased by 10%.
December 2020
At the start of December, the state of emergency was extended until 11 January and a broader range of restrictions came into force. The government aimed to have 10,000 tests per day, which primarily meant having the testing sites open on weekends and holiday.
Following a further increase in daily cases and hospitals approaching capacity, a range of new restrictions were expected to come into effect on 21 December. On 29 December 2020, the government introduced a curfew for New Year's holidays and the weekend from 30 December until 4 January, and the weekend following Orthodox Christmas on 8 and 9 January, during which individuals had to stay at their place of residence between 22:00 and 5:00 except for emergencies and work-related matters. Viņķele stated that various restrictions were likely to remain throughout 2021.
Viņķele stated that vaccines would be state-funded and voluntary. The first batch arrived on 26 December, and vaccination began on 28 December.
January 2021
Karins expressed mistrust in the Minister of Health Viņķele due to the lack of a vaccination plan and requested her resignation. Viņķele disagreed that the plan had not been sufficient, but resigned. On 7 January, Daniels Pavļuts was confirmed as the new Minister of Health.
The earlier restrictions, including the weekend curfew, were extended until 25 January, and later to 7 February. Pavļuts proposed that the restrictions could be lifted only if the cumulative number of new cases per capita would fall trifold.
On 5 January, the Ministry of Health presented a vaccination plan with an estimate of 50k vaccination a month and 16% of the total population in the first quarter of the year. A central vaccination bureau was established to facilitate a smooth vaccination implementation. In a survey, 38% of Latvian population said they would refuse vaccination.
February 2021
At the start of February, Latvia had a death rate 32% higher than the EU average and COVID-19 was the third most frequent cause of death in the country. In the middle of the month, the occurrence of the more contagious virus strains had risen from 3% to 8% towards the end of month.
The government approved a "Covid warning system" based on a 14-day cumulative new case count. The system aimed to inform the public about the current levels of risk of the epidemiological situation and set restrictions accordingly. On 5 February, the State of Emergency was extended to 6 April with mostly the same restrictions in place, while the weekend curfew was not extended. Notably, additional travel restrictions were also instated for two weeks. The State voluntary vaccination registration website also began operating on 5 February. On 16 February, the government approved a one-time 500 euro childcare benefit payment plan to families for children aged 0 to 15, 15 to 20 for those still in education, and all newborns until 6 April.