The number of Covid-19 tests carried out by Latvian laboratories has stopped increasing. This means laboratories have reached their maximum capacity, said Disease Prevention and Monitoring Centre’s Infectious Diseases Risk Analysis Department director Jurijs Perevoščikovs in an interview to LTV programme Rīta panorāma.
He admits this means the number of Covid-19 patients is much larger than the official statistic shows.
The good news is that the increase of positive infection cases has stabilised at 39-40%. «This may mean that, perhaps, there might not be an increase of new covid patients in the coming weeks,» said the representative of SPKC.
In recent days there has been no increase of Covid-19 infections observed in Europe either, which is a positive signal, said the specialist.
Perevoščikovs said the number of hospitalised covid patients is on a rise in Latvia. The number of patients for whom Covid-19 is the main diagnosis has increased 80% over the course of a month, whereas the number of patients for whom Covid-19 is an additional illness has quadrupled.
The infectologist stressed that statistics should not ignore these patients – for whom Covid-19 is a secondary diagnosis, because in most cases it was the coronavirus infection that caused serious consequences. «These are stroke patients, old and weakened patients, for whom coronavirus infection has made their already difficult state even worse. These patients are put in special beds in special wards for Covid-19 patients, as well as regular therapy wards. The number of these patients is very large,» said Perevoščikovs.
As for treating Covid-19 patients, he also stressed the high percentage of infections among medical personnel, which makes provision of healthcare services more difficult than it already is.
Considering the capacity of hospitals, it cannot be said the situation is «very critical and dramatic». Nevertheless, the possibility of an uncontrolled spread of Covid-19 remains. Soon enough Latvia may see a climb of infection rates among senior citizens already suffering from chronic illnesses, the infectologist warns, adding that «they may happen in the coming weeks», stressing the importance of caution.
He adds in previous covid waves there as a similar trend – first the infection struck economically active residents, then it spread to residents aged 60 years or older. «Currently, when compared to previous infection waves, these people [aged over 60] are infected less often. Looking at the dynamic, we can expect the infection percentage to equalize and the seniors who are currently not infected will become infected,» predicts SPKC representative.
Infectologist: Latvian laboratories may have reached max Covid-19 testing capacity
