As the incidence of Covid-19 continues to increase in Latvia, more and more Covid-19 patients are unable to identify a specific source of infection, journalists were informed by Jurijs Perevoščikovs, Director of the Infectious Diseases Risk Analysis and Prevention Department of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (SPKC).
Currently, according to the expert, two out of three Covid-19 patients know where they are infected or can name the person from whom they are potentially infected. Meanwhile, in a third of cases, the exact source is unknown. In such cases, it is most often claimed that the patient is potentially infected in public places – in a shop, on public transport or through distant friends or acquaintances.
Among those who manage to identify the source of infection, in 40% of cases this source is related to the household, 20% to work, and in 10% of cases – to educational institutions.
The expert expressed concern that medical institutions infected 8% of Covid-19 patients with known epidemiological links. “Unfortunately, there are outbreaks,” the epidemiologist said, explaining that “doctors, nurses and sometimes patients are the most affected by receiving health care.”
According to the SPKC expert, there are also at least two sufficiently large outbreaks in social care centers.
Perevoshchikov emphasized the so-called gold standard epidemiological safety measures, which include distancing, avoiding unnecessary contact, narrowing the range of contacts, as well as the use of face masks and hand hygiene.
Although the incidence of Covid-19 in Latvia continues to increase, the rate of this increase is declining, Yuri Perevoshchikov, Director of the Infectious Diseases Risk Analysis and Prevention Department, told the press conference on Tuesday.
“While the incidence is rising, the growth rate is declining – from 60% a week ago to 20%,” the expert explained. In his view, this reduction is not related to changes in the scope of testing.
According to Perevoshchikov, the situation in Latvia is much better than in the European Union as a whole. According to the expert, the fact that the proportion of positive tests has been lower than 4.5% during the last two days is also positive.
“We have very few examples of improving the situation with soft restraints,” Perevoshchikov said.
The epidemiologist informed that the socially active population aged 15-49 is still the most affected. Perevoshchikov also noted the trend, which, in his opinion, confirms the effectiveness of the restrictions imposed. The incidence of Covid-19 in children has decreased over the last two weeks, with the lowest incidence in the age group, while an increase is still observed in the other age groups.
It has already been reported that 171 cases of Covid-19 were detected last day, but two patients died, according to data compiled by the SPKC.
5235 Covid-19 tests were performed last day, while the proportion of positive cases was 3.3%. The SPCC has previously explained that this figure is considered important in the European Union, as above 4%, the spread of the disease is considered to be rapid and uncontrolled.
Two patients who had been confirmed infected with Covid-19 died last day. Dead patients were in the age groups of 70 to 75 and 80 to 95 years. To date, 79 deaths have been reported in persons confirmed to be infected with Covid-19.
To date, Covid-19 has been confirmed in 6439 people in Latvia. Since October 29, another 38 people have recovered from Covid-19, reaching a total of 1,444 people.
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