Travelers from eight world countries will be subject to additional entry restrictions on arrival in Latvia from Friday 24 December, given the rapid spread of the new variant of COVID-19 – Omicron – in Europe.

According to the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, travelers from the following countries entering the country on the basis of a covid-19 vaccination or recovery certificate must present negative results of a Coronavirus test before departure:

• Belgium
• Denmark
• Germany
• Ireland
• Norway
• Russia
• Sweden
• UK

“In addition to an interoperable vaccination or recovery certificate, [travellers from these countries] must also present evidence of a negative test for covid-19: an RNA test taken within 72 hours of entry, or an antigen test taken within the last 48 hours, explains the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the same time, the ministry declares that travelers who hold a covid-19 vaccination or recovery certificate, who reach the country by personal vehicle and do not hold a covid-19 test, are required to test within 24 hours of entering the country.

The decision to impose additional requirements on travelers from these countries has been taken after reporting an increasing number of covid-19 cases in recent days, including Omicron cases.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the number of recent reports in the last seven days per 100,000 inhabitants in the UK was 147.61, in Germany 108,814, in Russia 299,249, in Belgium 27,992, in Sweden 15,231, in Ireland 5,835 , in Denmark 3,084 and in Norway 1,207.

On 14 December, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that Latvia had begun examining travelers from 20 countries – Germany, Sweden, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Poland, Norway, Italy, Lithuania, Finland, Hungary, Estonia, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Ireland, Denmark, Georgia. , Malta, Ukraine and Switzerland – on arrival in the country.

The move was also made in an attempt to prevent the spread of Omicron in the territory of Latvia. However, due to the rapid spread of the new virus variant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has imposed stricter entry restrictions, by introducing test requirements in these eight countries. In fact, other EU countries have gone further in their efforts to stop the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant on their territory by making pre-departure testing mandatory for all.

Latvia continues to require all travelers to complete an electronic form on the Covidpass.lv website no earlier than 48 hours before reaching Latvia and to provide legitimately required proof of vaccination, testing or recovery from covid-19 upon arrival.