Latvia declares state of emergency amid record-high COVID-19 cases

Latvia declared a nationwide state of emergency on Thursday as a steady inflow of COVID-19 patients was pushing hospitals in the Baltic country to the breaking point, reported Xinhua.

Health Minister Daniels Pavluts announced the healthcare emergency at a news conference, citing the State Operative Medical Commission's decision.

Under the state of emergency, the country's healthcare institutions are authorized to manage their resources more freely so they can provide the necessary assistance to COVID-19 patients and other people requiring urgent treatment.

The health minister said that the number of COVID-19 patients in Latvia's hospitals had surpassed 700 and was likely to reach 800 in the coming days.

"People who were scheduled to undergo elective medical treatment will be contacted personally and the hospitals will inform them about postponements," Pavluts said.

Meanwhile, the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) said that Latvia's cumulative two-week COVID-19 incidence rate reached a new record high on Thursday, with 732.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants registered in the past 14 days.

Another 1,752 people in Latvia tested positive for coronavirus and ten patients died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the CDC said. Eighty percent of the new cases were among unvaccinated people.