The specter of re-containment returns to the European Union. The Prime Minister of Latvia, Krisjanis Karins, announced Monday a lockdown of nearly a month due to the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in his country and the low vaccination rate.
“I apologize to those who have already been vaccinated, but the restrictions will apply to everyone,” he insisted to the press after a meeting of his government that lasted ten hours. “There are still too many unvaccinated people who catch the Covid and die in the hospital.”
Distance courses
Containment is to begin Thursday and extend until November 15, with a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., cafes, cinemas, theaters and concert halls closed, and restaurants will only be able to offer take-out food. .
Only stores selling food and essentials will be able to remain open and the majority of the workforce will have to work remotely, with the exception of construction, transportation and other jobs that cannot be done by telecommuting. The schools will also switch to distance learning, except for the youngest, up to the third level of primary school, who will be able to continue to visit the establishments.
Contamination record
These measures are likely to be amended at another government meeting on Tuesday or at Wednesday’s parliamentary session before a vote.
Less than half of the 1.9 million Latvians received the two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Above all, the contamination record has been broken every day last week, with 1,253 new cases and seven deaths recorded on Monday. This brings a total toll of 186,000 infections and 2,897 deaths since the start of the pandemic.