Comparing this year's data with last year's data for the period from August 1 to September 10, the number of patients with Covid at Vidzeme Hospital has almost tripled. Last year, 15 people were infected with the virus during this period, but this year 40.
"At the moment we have quite a few patients who are being treated in the second therapy ward, and we also have several patients who are in both the surgery and the first therapy ward who are infected with Covid-19, and one patient is also being treated in the intensive care unit. As the prevalence is quite high, periodic outbreaks also occur in other wards. There is also a patient in the paediatric ward," said Anna Mironovska, head of the Therapy Department at Vidzeme Hospital.
To protect both patients and staff from the spread of infection, the hospital has quarantined certain wards and visitors are asked to go one by one to their loved ones, wearing face masks.
"For anyone who is elderly or those with other medical conditions, Covid-19 infection can worsen the course of the disease, exacerbating symptoms and damage," warned Anna Mironowska.
The hospital also carries out tests for Covid in patients who come in for elective surgery.
The Latvian Hospital Association told LTV that the situation is similar at Daugavpils Regional Hospital, where quarantine measures have been introduced in two wards.
If the virus continues to spread rapidly, similar measures may have to be introduced in other medical institutions.
"If the incidence increases, there are mechanisms within each hospital to contain the disease, but there is no such thing as a common national approach as there was during the Covid-19 pandemic (the beginning of the virus), where patient flows were restricted throughout the country, where masks were worn, gloves, etc.," said Jevgēņijs Kalējs, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Hospital Association.
Data from the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's epidemiological surveillance show that almost one in five people now test positive for Covid, but very few people get tested. At least 120 people are currently being treated in hospitals with Covid-19 as the primary diagnosis.
