On Monday, the health authorities in Latvia published a list of countries they recommend that their citizens do not visit, which included Belgium.
Latvian citizens, in general, are encouraged not to travel abroad, but six countries in particular should be avoided, according to experts at the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (Slimību profilakses un kontroles centrs - SPKC).
On the list published by the SPKC, Belgium, as well as Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Portugal and Malta are highlighted in red, meaning a journey is "not recommended."
Credit: SPKC
Other EU countries, such as Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany are all yellow, meaning that Latvians should "consider carefully" before visiting these countries.
For countries that are not highlighted, such as France, Greece, Austria and Switzerland, Latvian authorities believe it is sufficient to follow the standard recommendations.
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The system is based on the infection rate of the countries. Belgium has an infection rate of 41.5 per 100,000 inhabitants over a period of 14 days, according to the SPKC's calculations.
This is well above 25 infections per 100,000, the limit set by the Latvian Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
The infection rate is lowest in Liechtenstein, Iceland and Slovenia, where it is 0.0, 0.6 and 0.9 respectively, according to the calculations.
"These data are not constant and will evolve in parallel with the situation in each country," said Gints Georgs Murasevs, spokesperson for the SPKC, adding that the table will be updated next week.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
