Although in neighboring countries Estonia and Lithuania there is an increase in the number of new cases of COVID-19, the situation is considered to be manageable, as infection routes are mostly successfully tracked, said Perevoščikovs.
He explained that the vast majority – more than 80% – of newly identified cases had been tracked. The proportion of positive samples from the total number of tests is also less than 1%.
Perevoščikovs explained that the amount of positive tests from the total number of tests carried out was one of the indicators surveyed by epidemiologists. The critical level is 3% and more.
“If three out of a hundred are positive, it already shows that the disease is spreading uncontrollably,” the epidemiologist said.
The figure – 3% – is exceeded in more than ten European countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain. In Latvia, this indicator is 0.3%.
Overall, the global situation is deteriorating. “It is true that the increase is not uniform, for example, there is a huge difference between Spain and Latvia,” said Perevoščikovs.
Due to the increase of COVID-19 rates in neighboring Estonia and Lithuania, these countries are now on the list of mandatory self-isolation when entering Latvia.
