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After the joint meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers and the Crisis Management Council, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) said in a press conference that experts are preparing documents for declaring the state of emergency in the country and support mechanisms for the economy. The final decision will be made by the government on Friday.

If the government decides on declaring state of emergency, it will come into force as of November 9. Karins said that the length of the state of emergency is not clear, it will depend on success with curbing Covid-19.

The prime minister said that the government is responsible for making timely decisions in order to reduce the Covid-19 spread in Latvia.

"The situation in Latvia is very serious. Every day many people contract the infection, many are hospitalized in a severe condition. We see that the number of deaths is growing, which is a personal tragedy in each family," the prime minister said.

He also pointed at the bad situation in European countries that have not made timely decision to contain Covid-19. "We have a chance to react to contain the spread of Covid-19. The experience of our and other countries show that it means stricter measures," he said.

As reported, after the weekly meeting of coalition partners on Monday, Karins said that the time has come to decide on declaring a state of emergency, given the rapid spread of Covid-19 in Latvia. Some coalition partners, however, have voiced reserved opinions about the proposal.

"I see that the capacity of hospitals is gradually becoming saturated. If the situation does not change, there is a risk of healthcare services being disrupted because of the pandemic. 

Because of this reason and with the share of positive tests steadily exceeding 4%, which is an indication of an uncontrolled spread of the disease, I think that the time has come for us to consider declaring a state of emergency," the prime minister said.

Latvia confirmed 171 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths in the past 24 hours, the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) informed Tuesday.

Of the 5,235 Covid-19 tests carried out over the past 24 hours, 3.3% came back positive. The CDC explained earlier that in the European Union this indicator is considered important because when this figure rises above 4 percent, the spread of the disease is considered to be rapid and uncontrolled.

Two Covid-19 patients, in the age groups of 70 to 75 and 80 to 95, died in the past 24 hours, bringing Latvia's Covid-19 death toll to 79.

To date, 6,439 people in Latvia have tested positive for the coronavirus infection. With another 38 recoveries confirmed since October 29, the number of recovered Covid-19 patients has risen to 1,444.