Over two years, operators have answered almost 300,000 calls, according to a government information release.
The 24-hour hotline was set up by the State Chancellery in collaboration with the Tet telecoms company two years ago to provide citizens with free answers to frequently asked questions about the Covid-19 pandemic and current epidemiological safety conditions.
By March 27, 2022, the line operators had answered 297,688 calls from Latvian residents in Latvian, Russian and also English. The total number of minutes spent consulting citizens is 700,405 (11,673 hours, or 486 days). The average duration of one conversation was about 2 minutes.
The decision to discontinue the single phone was taken in view of the rapid decline in the incidence of Covid-19 and the abolition of epidemiological safety requirements in the country from April 1. In addition, the number of callers has dropped significantly in recent weeks. In two years, about 230,000 euros have been paid from the state budget for the maintenance of the telephone line.
In addition to the telephone hotline, the State Chancellery created and continues to maintain the official website covid19.gov.lv in March 2020 . Work is currently underway to update the content of the website in accordance with the epidemiological safety conditions, which will be in force from 1 April. Over 4 million unique users have visited the website in two years.
As the prevalence of Covid-19 decreases, the number of visitors to the website will also decrease, therefore the volume of its content will be reduced, while maintaining information on the most important topics.
People will now be pointed towards the covid19.gov.lv website for answers to questions about the Covid-19 pandemic and to find telephone numbers of the responsible authorities. You can find a full list HERE.
