The Latvian government decided on Wednesday to register all travelers arriving in the country via international carrier services. Over the last week, there has been a spike in new Covid-19 cases in the Baltic country, with 13 reported on Wednesday and 11 on Thursday.
The registration will first take place on paper, as the electronic registration system could take 2–3 weeks to develop. Private jets and yachts arriving in Latvia will also be registered, the country’s public broadcaster LSM reported on Wednesday.
The measures also apply to people travelling from Lithuania, the country's embassy in Riga told LRT.lt.
According to the Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, the registration will allow to more efficiently identify people who must self-isolate upon their arrival in Latvia.
The Latvian government has also decided to issue new residence permits only to the citizens of countries with low Covid-19 infection rates.
The Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs said that the foreigners who will breach the rules of self-isolation could lose their residence permits or visas, as well as receive a fine of 2,000 euros.
The leader of Lithuanian community in Latvia Rolandas Žalnierius welcomed the measure to register international arrivals in Latvia, as “most of the recent cases were diagnosed to the people returning from abroad”.
Today, Latvia confirmed four new coronavirus cases, two of which were imported.
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