Latvia’s PM allows lifting Covid-19 certificate requirement for certain situations

Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš allows the possibility of lifting Covid-19 certificate requirement in certain situations.
At the 1 February meeting of the government, the PM said the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has caused a very serious outbreak in the country, which is a major challenge for different systems. At the same time, it has not caused a serious workload for hospitals.
«All of this causes frustration among people. We have to work, and we need proposals what we should do to change this situation. I believe this is where everyone should work hand in hand with each other,» said Kariņš.
He mentioned Latvia currently faces a major challenge with Covid-19 testing capacity, because there have been situations when people who waited for a week for a test only for Omicron test result to come out negative immediately. There have also been cases when people who waited in a queue for a long time only for the test result to come out positive. In such case their Covid-19 certificate is annulled.
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«If the test result turns out positive, the certificate is annulled for a week even if all symptoms disappear. We have witnessed effects that were not expected. But this is not an issue for the Operational Management Group to discuss and resolve. It is an issue for the ministry and Disease Prevention and Monitoring Centre so that they can change something in testing algorithms,» notes the PM.
As previously reported, one of the parties part of the government – New Conservative Party – released a statement to the press on Monday, 31 January. In it the party noted that Latvia should change the use of Covid-19 certificates in different events in the country. One of the main functions of the certificate system was the restriction of the spread of the virus. However, the latest data reveals that covid certificates no longer fulfill this function.
JKP believes the current Covid-19 certificate system causes losses for the state economy, but it does not serve as a motivator for seniors who have not yet vaccinated for Covid-19, the party’s representatives say.
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Tuesday also marked the coming into force of EU’s regulation for validity term of digital Covid-19 certificates for travel within the EU, European Economic Zone member states and Switzerland, declaring the validity term to be nine months.
The nine-month or 270 day validity term applies only to travel. The certificate’s validity term to receive different services, shop, as well as other cases is dictated by individual countries for use within their territory.