A man leaves a shopping mall in Riga, Latvia, on Dec. 18, 2020. The new restrictions on retail in Latvia, effective from Dec. 19, 2020 till Jan. 11, 2021, are aimed at preventing people from gathering in stores and meeting face-to-face with various services providers. (Photo by Edijs Palens/Xinhua)
RIGA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Latvian ministers at a cabinet sitting on Thursday approved new tougher measures affecting primarily retail trade and services to bring the relentless spread of the coronavirus under control.
As Latvia's daily COVID-19 cases rose above 1,000 on Wednesday and Thursday and the inflow of COVID-19 patients threatened to overwhelm hospitals, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins called for three weeks of quiet, urging people to celebrate Christmas and New Year's at home and refrain from meeting up with relatives and friends.
The new restrictions on retail, effective from Dec. 19 till Jan. 11, are aimed at preventing people from gathering in stores and meeting face-to-face with various services providers.
All cultural establishments, exhibitions and fairs including Christmas markets, will remain closed until Jan. 11.
Stores will only be allowed to sell food, hygiene goods and essential household goods, tobacco products, pet food and personal protective equipment, transport tickets as well as flowers and Christmas trees.
Pharmacies, opticians and filling stations will remain open as well during the next three weeks. However, all beauty care services, including hairdressers and barbershops, will have to close.
All education, including vocational and higher education, will have to be provided remotely, which means that practical in-person training has to be suspended until Jan. 11.
Amateur sports will be allowed strictly in outdoor settings, with all sports clubs and gyms shutting down for the three weeks of quiet during the winter holiday season, authorities said.
The winter school holidays for first to sixth grade students will be extended by a week.
