Fully Vaccinated Latvia President Gets COVID-19 Days After Visiting Finland’s President Niinisto

Latvian President Egils Levits, who is fully vaccinated, has tested positive for COVID-19 after he met with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinisto, on Wednesday.

Levits, 66, had just returned from a visit to Denmark and Sweden when a PCR test showed he was positive for COVID-19. Finland’s President Niinisto has also begun observing self-quarantine after the pair recently met for lunch.

“President of Latvia has some light symptoms,” Andris Teikmanis, chief of staff at the chancery of the president, said in a statement Thursday. “President of Latvia Egils Levits will work remotely.”

Levits’ positive diagnosis has forced him to cancel presidential activities, including meeting with Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas on Friday and participating in the Riga Conference on Saturday. The conference is expected to discuss matters related to defense, foreign policy and international relations, according to the Inquirer.

The Latvia president was also scheduled to host a foreign visit of Estonia’s newly-elected President Alar Karis on Thursday. Inara Murniece, the speaker of Latvia’s parliament, will host the foreign visit in his stead.

The news comes days after the Latvia government Tuesday declared a three-month state of emergency as COVID-19 cases continue to soar. Under the new rules, all residents are required to wear face masks in public settings. Public employees are also required to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 15.

Residents who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be allowed to enter supermarkets beginning Monday, Oct. 18.

Under the state of emergency, only shops deemed essential would be allowed to open at weekends. Residents are also encouraged to work from home where possible.

On Thursday, Latvian health officials reported 2,408 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the highest number of daily infections the country recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, according to LSM.LV, a Latvian news portal.

Of the 2,408 positive cases recorded Thursday, 1,928 occurred in unvaccinated individuals and 480 were in fully vaccinated patients.

The country has now reported a total of 175,890 COVID-19 infections and 2,836 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.