The president said that the rapid increase in Covid-19 spread has stopped and the rate of infection is currently declining, but it would be too early to relax. For example, on Wednesday, over 1,000 cases were confirmed again.
As an example, Levits mentioned Ireland and Portugal, where a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases has recently been observed after easing restrictions.
The president said that the restrictions “will still have to be endured.”
Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš agreed with the president, saying that there would be no radical change in Covid-19 restrictions, but the government would think how to make the restrictions more meaningful. The Prime Minister explained that in setting safety measures, the most important objective is to ensure that people do not gather.
“If we opened the shops, then the new strain of virus would wait for us at the cash register,” Kariņš said.
On the introduction of “more meaningful” Covid-19 restrictions, Kariņš mentioned that the possibility of trading could be discussed as a system where there are no lists of products to be sold, but rather a system that includes shops that may or may not open. The Ministry of Economy is already discussing this possibility with retailers, said Kariņš.
