Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš. Photo: Zane Bitere/LETALatvian residents can relax about the upcoming summer season and festivals – there will not be any restrictions, said Latvian Minister of Culture Nauris Puntulis in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds.
He also explained that the topic of the transition period between 1 March and 1 April remains open as well. But it is clear the numerical restrictions will be lifted during this period of time. Puntulis stressed the numerical restrictions represent the main obstacle for the culture sector – they affect organisers, artists and the audience.
«Residents can relax about the summer season and festivals – there will be no restrictions, all main restrictions will be lifted on 1 April,» promised the minister.
The politician stressed that comparing the restrictions in different countries based only on the epidemiological situation is not entirely correct because it is also necessary to consider the capacity of each country’s healthcare system.
«The Ministry of Health has a proposal that is similar to what is used in Lithuania and Estonia, but doing a copy and paste is definitely out of the question – each country needs to pick and develop their own policy,» said the minister.
Puntulis believes is it important to allow art collectives to restart rehearsals to prepare for the Song and Dance Celebration of 2023.
As previously reported, Minister of Health Daniels Pavļuts has proposed to the government to reach an agreement on a plan to lift restrictions. The plan will consist of three steps.
Pavļuts believes the Omicron Covid-19 wave should be faced safely, responsibly and in a simple and comprehensive way. This is why the minister invites partners of the coalition to agree on a plan to reduce safety measures in order to gradually lift bans and make life a little easier for affected sectors of the economy.
«At the same time, the government needs to keep in mind that the situation in healthcare remains very complicated and a drop in infection rates is expected around the second half of February,» says Pavļuts.
He reminds that efforts to lift safety measures started with schools, where the epidemiological situation has stabilised. Starting from next week children will be the focus of efforts to lift restrictions – from 14 February onward students and teachers listed as contact persons to a confirmed Covid-19 patient will not longer have to self-isolate.
«It is also planned to start lifting restrictions for pre-school, hobby group and letting children attend without presenting Covid-19 test results from 16 February onward. Safety zones will not apply to children. They are also planned to be allowed to go to green zones without restrictions,» said the minister.
At the same time, students and teachers will still have to under go regular Covid-19 testing.
The minister of health plans to implement so far the largest reduction of restrictions from 1 March onward. This includes letting currently closed sectors of the economy, such as night clubs and attractions, to reopen again. The plan also proposes lifting ventilation, distance and remote work requirement, which will become a recommendation rather than an obligation. The politician also proposes cancelling the requirement for resident to present a valid Covid-19 certificate in stores. At the same time, similarly to Lithuania, the requirement for stores to provide at least 15 m2 of space for each customer will remain in force.
The politician recommends increasing the number of people allowed to attend organised events – from 500 to 3 000 people – and not registering them. There is also the proposal to increase the permitted number of people at private events – up to 50 for indoor events and from 20 to 100 people for outdoor events. No specific sizes of groups are planned for amateur activities, sports and education.