On Thursday, 14 May, the Saeima held an extraordinary sitting and approved the decision by the Cabinet of Ministers to ease the restrictions imposed during the state of emergency that were introduced with the aim to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The amendments to the Cabinet decree extend the state of emergency in the entire territory of Latvia until 9 June 2020.
The Cabinet decree allows gatherings both indoors and outdoors provided the event brings together no more than 25 people at a time, indoor events do not exceed three hours, and the event organiser ensures compliance with other restrictions and makes disinfectants available to participants. The amendments also instruct cultural, entertainment, sports, and other recreational venues to open not earlier than 7:00 and close not later than 24:00. All stores in shopping malls are allowed to operate on weekends and public holidays.
The number of people allowed to gather in cultural, sports, entertainment, and other recreational and religious venues is limited by the two-metre distance requirement, as well as other physical distancing and epidemiological security requirements.
The exemption from maintaining the two-metre distance, while gathering simultaneously in public indoor and outdoor spaces, still applies to not more than two people, people living in the same household, a parent and their underage children living in different households, or people performing work or official duties.
Organised sports trainings are allowed if not more than 25 people gather in one training group at the same time, the indoor time does not exceed three hours, and the training session is led by a person who complies with the statutory requirements for the certification of sports specialists. Participants should also follow the two-metre distance requirement. There must be no physical overlap between different training groups, in addition to other restrictions.
Subject to the specified social distancing and epidemiological safety measures, the amendments allow classroom consultations for students preparing for state examinations, including professional qualification exams, as well as on-site consultations for ninth grade students acquiring basic education. On-site instruction is permitted to children of compulsory age being prepared to enrol in primary school.
The government decree makes it mandatory to wear mouth and nose covering face masks in public transport.
The approved amendments also allow travel to Lithuania and Estonia. People returning from these countries are not required to spend 14 days in self-isolation at their place of residence unless they have visited other countries.
The Cabinet of Ministers decrees related to the state of emergency have been in force since their adoption on 7 May.
Full text of the decision in Latvian: https://likumi.lv/ta/id/313191-par-arkartejas-situacijas-izsludinasanu
Saeima Press Service