Regarding Declaration of the Emergency Situation

In order to stop the rapid spread of COVID-19 infection and the overloading of the health sector and to reduce the preventable mortality, concurrently ensuring the continuity of important State functions and services, on the basis of Section 4, Paragraph one, Clause 1, Sub-clause "e" of the Civil Protection and Disaster Management Law, Section 4, Section 5, Paragraph one, and Section 6, Paragraph one, Clause 1 and Paragraph two, Section 7, Clause 1, and Section 8 of the law On Emergency Situation and State of Exception, Section 3, Paragraph two of the Epidemiological Safety Law:

1. Emergency situation shall be declared in the entire territory of the State from 11 October 2021 until 28 February 2022.

[7 January 2022]

2. The Crisis Management Council and the Ministry of Health shall be the responsible authorities for the coordination of activities during the emergency situation.

3. The laws and regulations for the suppression of the spread and consequences of COVID-19 infection shall be applicable during the emergency situation, except for Sub-paragraph 2.16, Paragraphs 8, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 52, 179, 184, 185, 186, 187, 194, and 329, Sub-chapters 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 of Cabinet Regulation No. 662 of 28 September 2021, Epidemiological Safety Measures for the Containment of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection.

[11 February 2022]

4. The terms used in this Order correspond to the terms used in the laws and regulations regarding the suppression of the spread and consequences of COVID-19 infection.

5. During the emergency situation:

5.1. employers shall:

5.1.1. provide employees (officials) with possibilities to work remotely if allowed by the specific nature of the work;

5.1.2. organise work so that only those employees (officials) who ensure the continuity of work and cannot work remotely from their place of residence would perform work duties on site by an order of the employer;

5.1.3. ensure that employees (officials), including volunteers and persons with outsourced service contracts, perform work duties on site only if they have a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate;

5.1.4. preclude gathering of employees (officials) in places which are not related to the performance of direct work duties;

5.1.5. in order to reduce the risks of the spread of COVID-19, the employer may organise testing (including with a COVID-19 routine screening test) of all employees (officials) working on site. In such case, the costs of testing shall be covered from the funds of the employer;

5.1.5.¹ in order to reduce the risks of the spread of COVID-19, the employer may organise testing of clients of long-term social care and social rehabilitation, including clients with a completed primary vaccination or a booster vaccination, or a recovery certificate with a COVID-19 routine screening test from the State budget funds;

5.1.6. the employer shall develop internal procedures for testing the employees referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.1.5 of this Order in respect of COVID-19 screening at the workplace and integrate them into the internal control system for the implementation of epidemiological safety measures, including describing procedures for the performance of tests and the notification of results, and also the control procedures and the action in case of a positive COVID-19 test;

5.1.7. suspend an employee (official) from the performance of work duties if he or she has a positive result of the screening test performed at the workplace;

5.1.8. identify persons (contact persons) who have been in close contact with the employees (officials) referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.1.6 of this Order within the last three days at the workplace and organise the screening test of such contact persons with antigen tests each time before a working day or shift for seven calendar days after the contact with the infected person. If the abovementioned contact persons do not undergo daily screening tests at the workplace, they shall undergo home quarantine and, where necessary, inform the general practitioner to receive the sick-leave certificate;

5.1.¹ an employee (official) or an assistant to an educatee to whom infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been confirmed or who has justified suspicions of being infected which are attested by a positive antigen test (including a self-test) needs not comply with the isolation conditions to perform work duties on site if the following requirements are complied with and a relevant number of days has passed since the case of becoming infected or confirmation of suspicions:

5.1.¹ 1. the employee (official) or the assistant to an educatee commences the work duties not earlier than on the eighth day if he or she does not have symptoms of the disease for at least 24 hours before resuming the work duties and he or she attests it to the employer;

5.1.¹ 2. he or she uses a respirator without valve of a class not lower than FFP2 for 10 days if there is more than one person in the room;

5.1.¹ 3. he or she avoids from making close contacts with other persons, visiting public places and using public transport for 10 days;

5.1.² an employee (official) who has been determined as a contact person needs not follow the conditions of home quarantine in order to perform work duties on site if one of the following COVID-19 testing algorithms is complied with and the following requirements are fulfilled until the tenth day since the last contact with the infected person or the person regarding whom there are justified suspicions of him or her being infected (hereinafter - the infected person):

5.1.² 1. he or she undergoes an RNA or antigen test as soon as possible after the last contact with the infected person and stays in home quarantine until receipt of a negative test. A repeated RNA or antigen test is undergone on the third or fourth day, and also:

5.1.² 1.1. he or she uses a respirator without valve of a class not lower than FFP2 if there is more than one person in the room;

5.1.² 1.2. he or she avoids form making close contacts with other persons, visiting public places and using public transport;

5.1.² 2. within seven days since the last contact with the infected person and before the start of a working day or shift, he or she undergoes a screening test under supervision of the responsible person appointed by the employer or the head of the institution with an antigen test;

5.1.³ an employee (official) who is involved in the implementation of the functions that are important to the public, and also to ensuring of health protection, safety, economic or social welfare of people and the discontinuation of whose work duties would significantly affect the implementation of the basic functions of the State and the public, and:

5.1.³ 1. to whom infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been confirmed or who has justified suspicions of being infected which are attested by a positive antigen test (including a self-test) needs not comply with the isolation conditions in order to perform work duties on site if the following requirements are complied with and a relevant number of days has passed since the case of becoming infected or confirmation of suspicions:

5.1.³ 1.1. the employee (official) commences work duties not earlier than on the fourth day if he or she has not had symptoms of the disease for at least 24 hours before resuming the work duties and he or she attests it to the employer;

5.1.³ 1.2. the official (employee) undergoes an RNA or antigen test not earlier than on the third day and the test result is negative;

5.1.³ 1.3. he or she uses a respirator without valve of a class not lower than FFP2 for 10 days if there is more than one person in the room;

5.1.¹ 1.4. he or she avoids from making close contacts with other persons, visiting public places and using public transport for 10 days;

5.1.³ 2. who has been determined a contact person needs not comply with the conditions of home quarantine in order to perform work duties if the employee (official) undergoes an RNA or antigen test five to seven days after the last contact with the infected person and the result of antigen tests and the test is negative, and:

5.1.³ 2.1. he or she uses a respirator without valve of a class not lower than FFP2 for 10 days if there is more than one person in the room;

5.1.¹ 2.2. he or she avoids from making close contacts with other persons, visiting public places and using public transport for 10 days;

5.1.⁴ the following persons need not follow the conditions of home quarantine in order to perform work duties or participate in study process on site:

5.1.⁴ 1. employees of educational institutions or assistants to educatees (at the level of pre-school, basic, and secondary education, including in interest and vocational orientation education programmes (except for continuous vocational training and professional development programmes)) if they conduct routine screening test according to the algorithm of the Centre;

5.1.⁴ 2. students of colleges and higher education institutions, employees or assistants to educatees if they undergo, for seven days after last contact with the infected person, a screening test under supervision of the responsible person appointed by the employer or the head of the institution before the beginning of each on-site working day or on-site study day;

5.2. if an employer has informed the employee (official) that a vaccination or recovery certificate is necessary for the performance of work duties, the employee (official) has an obligation to commence vaccination not later than within 10 days from the receipt of the abovementioned information and to complete it not later than seven days after the shortest time period indicated in the instructions for the use of the vaccine. If the employee (official) has not commenced or completed vaccination within the specified period (by 15 November 2021), the employer shall suspend the employee (official) from the performance of work or official duties;

5.3. employees and officials of State and local government authorities (including capital companies) may perform their work duties only if they have presented a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate;

5.4. [6 December 2021. See the introductory part of Paragraph 2 of the amendment];

5.5. [6 December 2021. See the introductory part of Paragraph 2 of the amendment];

5.6. the Commander of the National Armed Forces has the right, taking into account the specific nature of tasks of the military service for ensuring national defence, to determine that a vaccination or recovery certificate is necessary to perform the professional service in the National Armed Forces;

5.7. [7 January 2022];

5.7.¹ employees, including volunteers and persons with outsourced service contracts who are not referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.3 of this Order and who perform work duties on site, must present a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate;

5.8. [7 January 2022];

5.9. [7 January 2022];

5.9.¹ [6 December 2021. See the introductory part of Paragraph 2 of the amendment];

5.9.² employees who work on site (including fully vaccinated and recovered persons) and for whom the employer does not organise the screening testing referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.1.5 of this Order or who have not undergone it within the last 72 hours shall, upon arrival at the work place, certify that they do not have signs of an acute respiratory infection and are not obliged to undertake isolation, home quarantine, or self-isolation. An employee who works on-site is obliged to immediately notify the employer if infection has been confirmed to him or her or there are justified suspicions that he or she is infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus, including in cases when the antigen test result is positive;

5.9.³ an employer is entitled to, during the emergency situation and two months after the end of the emergency situation, employ a person without the performance of the mandatory health examination in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the procedures for the performance of the mandatory health examination if the person has not performed the periodic health examination within the time period (term) stipulated by the employer due to the risks of COVID-19 infection. The exception shall not apply to the initial and extraordinary health examination, and also to the periodic health examination for persons employed in work in special conditions in accordance with Annex 2 to Cabinet Regulation No. 219 of 10 March 2009, Procedures for the Performance of Mandatory Health Examinations;

5.10. it shall be permitted to receive and provide economic services (including cultural services or outdoor amusements), to organise and attend events, and also to attend sports competitions only in an epidemiologically safe environment if it is ensured that:

5.10.1. vaccination certificates or certificates of recovery are being verified;

5.10.2. the presence of such persons who do not conform to the requirements for staying in an epidemiologically safe environment is precluded, except for children under 18 years of age;

5.10.3. compliance with the general and specific epidemiological safety requirements laid down in this Order is ensured;

5.10.4. face masks are used. Face masks need not be used during physical activities and sports trainings, and also by athletes during physical activities in sports competitions;

5.10.5. [15 February 2022];

5.10.6. [15 February 2022];

5.10.¹ requirements of this Order for the existence of a valid vaccination or recovery certificate for the receipt of a service or attending an event shall not be applied to children under 18 years of age;

5.11. it shall be prohibited to provide on-site economic services which are related to entertainment, gambling, bets, and amusement indoors (including in aquaparks, entertainment and amusement centres, trampoline parks);

5.12. economic services, including amusements outdoors and beauty treatment services, trade fairs may be provided in an epidemiologically safe environment if the following conditions are conformed to in additional to the general epidemiological safety requirements laid down in this Order:

5.12.1. an area of at least 15 m² of the publicly available indoor premise is provided per person;

5.12.2. at exhibition venues the width of passageways between rows of exhibition stands or the distance between several sites where services are provided in one room is at least three metres;

5.12.3. maintaining of two-metre distance between individual visitors or members of different households is ensured;

5.12.¹ gathering in private events and in expressions of protected peaceful freedom of assembly (meetings, processions, and pickets) shall be permitted if the following conditions are met:

5.12¹ 1. not more than 10 persons gather indoors;

5.12¹ 2. not more than 20 persons gather privately outdoors;

5.12.¹ 3. not more than 3000 persons gather outdoors for protected and peaceful expressions of the freedom of assembly (meetings, processions, and pickets).

5.13. the following services may be received without presenting an interoperable certificate:

5.13.1. services on site if they cannot be provided remotely and non-provision of the service causes risk to ensuring the fundamental human rights or to public safety;

5.13.2. support in psychological assistance groups;

5.13.3. public transport and international carriage services, including international carriage of passengers, and services related to the provision thereof, and also carriage by taxi and passenger car for hire or reward;

5.13.4. postal services;

5.13.5. take-away meals;

5.13.6. financial and insurance services (banking, consumer credits, insurance, currency exchange);

5.13.7. services of emergency response and emergency utility services;

5.13.8. repair and maintenance services;

5.13.9. telecommunication services (including telecommunication products purchased together with the service);

5.13.10. individually or for members of one household:

5.13.10.1. accommodation services;

5.13.10.2. making of photographs for documents;

5.13.11. veterinary medicine services;

5.13.¹ in providing the services referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.13 of this Order, the following requirements shall be conformed to:

5.13.¹ 1. face masks shall be used;

5.13.¹ 2. an area of at least 15 m2 of the publicly available indoor premise (except for public transport services, international carriage of passengers, and accommodation services) shall be provided per person;

5.13.¹ 3. if possible, services shall be provided upon pre-booking an appointment;

5.13.¹ 4. a separate entrance from outdoors is ensured for the premises where services are provided in an epidemiologically unsafe environment;

5.13.² the following conditions shall be conformed to in the provision of public services:

5.13.² 1. the service shall be provided completely remotely;

5.13.² 2. the provision of the service on site shall be permitted if the on-site contact during receipt of the service does not exceed 15 minutes, the service provider has a valid vaccination or recovery certificate and the service is provided upon prior appointment;

5.13.² 3. the conditions of Sub-paragraph 5.13.² 2 of this Order shall not be attributed to the services referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.13.1 of this Order;

5.14. services shall not be provided and events shall not be organised in the period between 23:00 and 6:00, except for trade services, take-away catering and services provided in airport terminals of valsts akciju sabiedrība "Starptautiskā lidosta "Rīga"" [State joint stock company International Airport Riga], transport services, the economic services referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.13 of this Order, and also the public catering services referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.23.2 of this Order. The Minister for Justice shall, after agreeing thereupon with the Ministry of Health, determine exceptions to working hours at places where religious activities are performed. The Minister for Culture shall, after agreeing thereupon with the Ministry of Health, determine exceptions to working hours for events of public interest with live broadcasting in electronic mass media;

5.14.¹ at sites where the economic service is provided and one visitor has an area of less than 15 m² of the publicly available premises, only one person shall be allowed at the same time;

5.15. trade services on site, except for the trading sites referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.16 of this Order, may be provided:

5.15.1. indoors in an epidemiologically safe environment, determining such maximum number of visitors that at least 15 m² of the publicly available indoor area are provided per person and using face masks. At a site where one visitor has an area of less than 15 m² of the publicly available premises, only one visitor is allowed at the same time;

5.15.2. outdoors in an epidemiologically safe and unsafe environment, using face masks;

5.16. trade services in an epidemiologically unsafe environment may be provided:

5.16.1. indoors if the total area of the sales room that is publicly available to visitors and where the trading process takes place and visitors are served (irrespective of the placement of sales facilities and racks) does not exceed 1500 m², separate entrance from outdoors is provided and an area of at least 25 m² of the publicly available premises is provided per person (at a site where the area is smaller than determined, only one visitor is allowed at the same time), in the following trading sites:

5.16.1.1. food shops (shops where at least 70 % of the assortment are food products, hygiene products, animal feed, and periodicals);

5.16.1.2. medicinal product trading sites where at least 90 % of the assortment of goods are medicinal products, and pharmacies (including veterinary pharmacies);

5.16.1.3. optical goods shops;

5.16.1.4. animal feed shops;

5.16.1.5. press trading sites;

5.16.1.6. shops of hygiene products (shops where at least 70 % of the assortment are hygiene products);

5.16.2. service stations;

5.16.3. ticket offices of registered bus terminals and railway stations;

5.16.4. in markets outdoors and at street vending sites with the provider of trade services and buyers using face masks during trade at street vending sites and in the territory of an open market;

5.16.¹ the requirement laid down in the introductory part of Sub-paragraph 5.16 of this Order for the provision of a specific area of premises to each visitor shall not apply to pharmacies which perform vaccination against COVID-19 or issues test certificates, but they shall be subject to the requirement to provide each person at least 15 m² of the publicly available premises (at a site where an area of less than 15 m² of the publicly available premises is provided per visitor, only one visitor is allowed at the same time);

5.16.² the organiser of street vending shall, at a site where street vending is organised:

5.16.² 1. ensure activity in an epidemiologically safe environment;

5.16.² 2. ensure at least a two-metre distance among vending sites and make it possible for visitors of a vending site to maintain at least a two-metre distance;

5.16.² 3. control and regulate the flow of visitors in order to ensure free movement of visitors in aisles and to prevent increased gathering (crowding) of visitors, including ensure that at least a two-metre distance is maintained among vending sites and rows of visitors at different vending sites;

5.16.² 4. not organise entertainment events (for example, thematic celebrations, amusements, musical performances), except for thematic exhibitions if it is ensured that a two-metre distance is maintained among individual visitors or members of different households;

5.16.² 5. ensure physical delimitation of street vending site and verification of visitors' vaccination or recovery certificates at entrance in the territory of the street vending site in order to ensure that persons who do not meet the conditions of the epidemiologically safe environment cannot enter the street vending site, and also to control the flow and number of visitors;

5.16.² 6. ensure at least 10 m² of the area of the street vending site per one visitor;

5.16.² 7. ensure that public catering services are provided in compliance with the epidemiological safety requirements referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.22 of this Order;

5.16.² 8. appoint the responsible person who is at the street vending site and organises implementation of the epidemiological safety measures specified in laws and regulations. Information on the responsible person shall be placed in a clearly visible place;

5.16.² 9. develop and document the internal control system for the implementation of the epidemiological safety measures describing the following procedures:

5.16.² 9.1. the procedure for ensuring maintenance of physical distancing and prevention of increased gathering (crowding) of visitors;

5.16.² 9.2. the procedure for controlling the existence of interoperable certificates for traders and visitors;

5.16.³ in the registered bus terminals and railway stations where economic services are provided and complete separation of the flow of visitors of economic services provided in an epidemiologically unsafe environment from the economic services provided in an epidemiologically safe environment cannot be organised, the verification of interoperable certificates shall be ensured at the entrance of the site where economic services are provided and which is operating in an epidemiologically safe environment;

5.17. the total number of shopping equipment, including baskets, trolleys, or shopping bags provided by the trader, may not exceed the maximum number of visitors permitted in the trade site. It is prohibited to be at a trade site where the availability of such equipment is ensured without the abovementioned shopping equipment;

5.18. the owner or legal possessors of the shopping centre, and also the manager of the market shall:

5.18.1. appoint the responsible person who shall organise the implementation of the epidemiological safety measures referred to in this Order in the shopping centre or market pavilion. Information on the responsible person shall be placed in a clearly visible place;

5.18.2. ensure that the maximum number of visitors allowed in the shopping centre or closed-type market pavilion is not exceeded. The maximum number of visitors allowed in the shopping centre shall be determined as not exceeding the sum of the number of visitors allowed in individual sites where services are provided and trading sites;

5.18.3. place information on the total maximum number of visitors of the shopping centre or market pavilion and the contact details of the person responsible for epidemiological safety;

5.18.4. if the total area dedicated to trade in a shopping centre exceeds 7000 m², ensure that an electronic device for registering visitor flow is installed in the shopping centre;

5.18.5. organise complete separation of the flow of visitors for the services provided in an epidemiologically unsafe environment from the services provided in an epidemiologically safe environment;

5.19. issuing of goods purchased using distance means of communication to visitors without an interoperable certificate at the trading sites referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.15 of this Order shall be organised by ensuring a separate visitor flow which is completely separated from the services provided in an epidemiologically safe environment and with a separate entrance from outdoors, or also by issuing the goods outdoors;

5.20. [22 December 2021];

5.20.¹ the epidemiological safety environment for the provision of economic services shall not be changed in the shopping centres on weekends and public holidays;

5.21. the following shall not apply to prisons:

5.21.1. the conditions of Sub-paragraphs 5.1 and 5.2 of this Order;

5.21.2. the restrictions and requirements referred to in this Order to trading sites at prisons (prison shops). The rights of prisoners to make purchases in the prison shop laid down by laws and regulations shall be ensured in conformity with the prison infrastructure and the epidemiological safety requirements specified for prisons;

5.21.3. the requirements referred to in this Order for the performance of economic services shall not apply to the paid service - use of devices and equipment for premises of long-term visit - provided by the Prison Administration. During the use of the abovementioned service, conformity with the epidemiological safety requirements specified in prisons shall be ensured;

5.21.4. the restrictions and requirements referred to in this Order for the provision of catering services. The epidemiological safety requirements specified in prisons shall be applied to the provision of catering services in prisons;

5.22. public catering services, except for the cases referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.13.5 of this Order, shall be provided only in an epidemiologically safe environment if the following is ensured in addition to the general epidemiological safety requirements:

5.22.1. not more than four adults, excluding minor children (but not exceeding 10 persons in total), are sitting at one table;

5.22.2. the distance of at least two metres between the persons sitting at different tables unless a limiting wall has been placed between the tables;

5.23. the requirements referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.22 of this Order shall not be applicable to:

5.23.1. terminals of the State joint stock company International Airport Riga if it is ensured that:

5.23.1.1. there is a three-meter distance between persons sitting at different tables if a limiting wall has not been placed between the tables;

5.23.1.2. not more than four visitors who are not members of one household are sitting at one table;

5.23.2. the provision of catering services to participants of sports teams at the site where they are staying if it is ensured that groups of persons which do not come into everyday contact are separated into different flows and do not physically overlap;

5.24. public events, seminars and conferences shall be organised only in an epidemiologically safe environment if it is ensured in addition that:

5.24.1. visitors are staying in fixed seats during the event;

5.24.2. not more than 500 visitors are concurrently at the venue of the event;

5.24.3. not more than two persons who are not members of the same household or not more than 10 persons who are members of the same household (including not more than four adults) may be seated next to each other. A distance of not less than two seats or a protective barrier is ensured between each adjacent two seats, seats in different rows are arranged alternately;

5.24.4. visitors who are in different limited sectors of a room do not mutually meet;

5.24.5. during the course of the event, the flow of visitors is organised in a way to prevent gathering of people and to ensure that the distance of two metres is maintained outside seats;

5.24.6. the organiser of the event ensures personalisation of tickets or registration of visitors of the event. Personalisation shall include the following information on the visitor: the given name(s), surname, contact telephone number. The organiser of the event shall store the information for one month and transfer it to the Centre upon its request;

5.24.¹ upon proposal of the Ministry of Culture or Ministry of Education and Science, individual international sporting events, sports competitions and cultural events of national significance which are held in the multifunctional venue Arena Riga (Skanstes iela 21, Riga) may take place without complying with the requirements referred to in Sub-paragraphs 5.24.2 and 5.24.3 of this Order if it is ensured that not more than 60 % of the maximum number of visitors are simultaneously at the venue of the event and the epidemiological safety protocol of the event is agreed upon with the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health;

5.25. to events:

5.25.1. until 18 October 2021, conditions of Sub-paragraphs 5.14 and 5.24 of this Order in relation to the number of persons and the time of the event shall not apply to events, including conferences, sporting events and competitions which have been announced until 8 October 2021 and which take place in an epidemiologically safe environment;

5.25.2. until 18 October 2021, the conditions of this Order shall not apply to trade fairs and private events which have been planned until 8 October 2021 and take place at public places in an epidemiologically safe environment, except for the requirement to use face masks;

5.25.¹ the State and local government institutions may implement activities for festive celebration of national holidays and remembrance days determined in the law On Holidays, Remembrance, and Festive Days (except for public events within the meaning of the Law on the Safety of Public Entertainment and Festivity Events, including fireworks), ensuring that the abovementioned activities do not promote uncontrolled gathering of persons;

5.26. rehearsals of amateur art collectives on site shall be organised in an epidemiologically safe environment if:

5.26.1. a group consists of not more than 20 persons;

5.26.2. at least 15 m² of the area of the premises intended for the rehearsal of amateur art collectives are provided per person;

5.26.3. in using locker rooms, their occupancy concurrently does not exceed 25 %;

5.26.4. flows of a group of an amateur collective do not overlap with flows of other persons;

5.26.5. two-metre distance is ensured during a rehearsal, except during dance lessons;

5.26.¹ mass media programmes are created only in an epidemiologically safe environment. In order to ensure unequivocal information that is easy to perceive for viewers, participants of the programme need not use the face mask during the creation of mass media programmes if the following conditions are conformed to:

5.26.¹ 1. not more than 20 participants participate in the programme;

5.26.¹ 2. ventilation of premises with a mechanical ventilation system or natural ventilation is ensured so that the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) does not exceed 1000 ppm, and also constant or regular control of the air quality is ensured to the extent possible;

5.26.¹ 3. during the programme, viewers are regularly informed that all participants of the programme have the vaccination or recovery certificate and face masks are not used to ensure unequivocal information that is easy to perceive for viewers;

5.26.² at the sites where religious activities are performed (indoors and outdoors):

5.26.² 1. gathering takes place in an epidemiologically safe environment, using face masks, ensuring individual seats for visitors and in compliance with the requirements of Sub-paragraph 5.24.3 of this Regulation. If, during gathering, seats are not provided, visitors must stay in marked fixed standing places, maintaining the two-metre distance and ensuring at least 15 m² of the area of publicly available premises per visitor;

5.26.² 2. if vaccination or recovery certificates are not presented, not more than 10 visitors may be concurrently present indoors, providing for at least 15 m² of the area of publicly available premises per visitor and ensuring each visitor with an FFP-2 respirator for use during the service before entering the site where religious activity is performed;

5.26.² 3. it is ensured that gathering in an epidemiologically safe environment does not take place concurrently with a gathering where vaccination or recovery certificates are not presented;

5.27. local governments and public transport service providers which receive subsidies from local governments shall not apply reliefs of transport rates to persons of legal age who do not have a vaccination or recovery certificate. Local governments may decide on determination of reliefs of transport rates or compensation of the actual transport rate for educatees of general and vocational education institutions;

5.28. in the field of education and sports, the conditions for the epidemiological safety of the education and learning process shall be conformed to in accordance with Sub-chapter 3.8 of Cabinet Regulation No. 662 of 28 September 2021, Epidemiological Safety Measures for the Containment of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection, unless otherwise provided for in Sub-paragraphs 5.30, 5.31, 5.32, 5.32.¹, 5.33, 5.34, 5.35, 5.36, 5.36.¹, 5.36.², 5.36.³, 5.36.⁴, 5.37, 5.37.¹, 5.38, 5.39, 5.40, 5.41, 5.42, 5.43, 5.44, 5.45, 5.45.¹, 5.46, and 5.54 of this Order;

5.29. [11 November 2021];

5.30. in implementing the learning process in premises where more than one person is present, face masks shall be used, except for the cases referred to in Sub-paragraphs 17.1, 17.2, 17.2.¹, 17.3, 17.4, 17.7, and 17.8 of Cabinet Regulation No. 662 of 28 September 2021, Epidemiological Safety Measures for the Containment of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection;

5.31. if the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has detected very high risk of the spread of COVID-19 infection at an educational institution, the operation of the educational institution on site shall be discontinued within three days;

5.31.¹ an educatee to whom infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been confirmed or who has justified suspicions of being infected which are attested by a positive antigen test (including a self-test) needs not comply with the isolation conditions in order to participate in the learning process on site at the pre-school, basic, and secondary school level, including in interest and vocational orientation education programmes (except for continuing vocational training and vocational in-service training programmes), or in order to receive child supervision services on site if at least seven days have passed since becoming infected or confirmation of suspicions and he or she does not have signs of the disease for at least 24 hours before returning in the on-site learning process or at the site where child supervision services are provided;

5.31.² an educatee:

5.31.²1. at the level of pre-school education, including in interest and vocational orientation education programmes, who has been determined as a contact person needs not follow the conditions of home quarantine in order to participate in the educational process on site or receive child supervision services on site if the contact with infected person is related to a COVID-19 case in the household and at least 10 days have passed since the last contact with the infected person;

5.31.²2. at the level of pre-school education, including in interest and vocational orientation education programmes, who has been determined as a contact person needs not follow the conditions of home quarantine in order to participate in the educational process on site or receive child supervision services on site if the contact with infected person is not related to a COVID-19 case in the household;

5.31.²3. at the level of basic and secondary education, including in interest and vocational orientation education programmes (except for continuous vocational training and professional development programmes) needs not follow the conditions of home quarantine in order to participate in the educational process on site if routine screening tests of educatees are conducted according to the algorithm of the Centre;

5.32. the Minister for Defence shall decide on the learning process in military educational institutions and the Vocational Secondary School of Colonel Oskars Kalpaks;

5.32.¹ interest and vocational orientation education programmes shall be implemented in conformity with the following conditions (except for Sub-paragraph 5.36.³ of this Order):

5.32.¹ 1. at least 3 m² of the publicly available area of premises are ensured for one educatee indoors;

5.32.¹ 2. ventilation of premises with a mechanical ventilation system or natural ventilation is ensured so that the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) does not exceed 1 000 ppm but if it is not possible, supply of fresh air to a room is ensured for at least 15 minutes within an astronomical hour;

5.32.¹ 3. the number of educatees in one group does not exceed 20 persons;

5.32.¹ 4. educatees (except for educatees of pre-school age) have undergone the routine screening test according to the algorithm of the Centre;

5.33. the completion of an interest education and vocational orientation education programme shall take place remotely or on site:

5.33.1. for educatees of pre-school, basic, and secondary education level;

5.33.2. if indoor lessons of pre-school educatees overlap with the lessons of educatees of the basic education level, pre-school educatees shall, not earlier than 24 hours before, perform the antigen self-test under supervision of parents, notifying the responsible person of its result, or shall perform the antigen self-test before the lesson in the presence of an authorised person and the parents, and the test result must negative. The costs of testing shall be ensured by the implementer of the relevant interest education or vocational orientation education programme. The costs of testing may not be directly or indirectly transferred to parents. If the self-test is positive, the child and the parents or lawful representative of the child shall immediately leave the site where the lesson takes place;

5.34. only persons with a certificate confirming a completed primary vaccination or booster vaccine or a recovery certificate may participate in the on-site study process of higher education institutions and colleges, performance of work duties or the provision of services. Persons on whom the medical panel of a clinical university hospital has taken the decision to postpone the vaccination of the person for a specific period shall, until completion of a full vaccination course, participate in the study process only remotely;

5.35. an educational institution shall not organise, participate, support, and promote the participation of educatees and teachers in on-site events and activities (excursions, visits to theatres and exhibitions, etc.) outside the educational institution, and also limit the presence of the third parties in premises of the educational institution. Amateur art collectives shall not organise activities and public or private events (including going to the administrative territories of other local governments) where persons from another group, grade, or course participate;

5.36. in the implementation of the formal education process at the level of basic and secondary education, it shall be ensured that flows of educatees of different groups, grades, or courses do not overlap - they are not concurrently in one classroom, and also there is no overlapping outdoors during breaks. The abovementioned requirement in relation to the overlapping of groups, grades, or courses of educatees in one classroom need not be applied if it is objectively justified for the implementation of subjects (courses) according to the specific nature of the educational programme, and also in subject consultations, lessons of extended-day groups and interest education. The requirements referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.32¹ of this Regulation are conformed to in subject consultations, lessons of extended-day groups and interest education, except for the requirement for the number of educatees in a group if they are implemented within the scope of one group, grade, or course;

5.36.¹ in order to ensure that different groups, grades, or courses of educatees do not overlap, an educational institution may implement the learning process remotely according to rotation procedures for not more than five working days a month at the level of basic education and secondary education (except for grades 1-6);

5.36.² the educational process in educational institutions of the basic and secondary education level may be implemented, according to a justified decision of the head of the educational institution agreed upon with the founder (the head of a State general and vocational education institution shall take a justified decision without agreeing thereupon with the founder) and the procedures specified in the educational institution, remotely for educatees of the basic and secondary education level, assessing the availability of the employees of the educational institution for the implementation and ensuring of the learning process of good quality on site;

5.36.³ acquisition of on-site continuing vocational education, vocational development, non-formal education programmes for adults (including interest-related education), completion of the programmes for the improvement of professional competence of teachers, and also studies of other types upon the completion of which a confirmation document - certificate, licence, certification, confirmation, or another document of similar nature - is issued or maintaining of the abovementioned confirmation document, extension or renewal of the term of validity is implemented in an epidemiologically safe mode only, conforming to the following conditions:

5.36.³ 1. training takes place upon prior registration;

5.36.³ 2. an area of at least 3 m2 of the publicly available indoor premises is provided per person;

5.36.³ 3. there are not more than 20 persons in one training group;

5.36.³ 4. ventilation of premises with a mechanical ventilation system or natural ventilation is ensured so that the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) does not exceed 1000 ppm, and also constant or regular control of the air quality is ensured to the extent possible;

5.36.⁴ persons with a vaccination or recovery certificate, and also persons by presenting a test certificate regarding a test undergone within the last 72 hours may participate in taking of professional qualification examinations in continuing vocational education programmes (including in taking of qualification examinations organised within the scope of evaluation of the professional competence acquired outside formal education) if their course has been planned until 11 January 2022 and if the person has commenced the studies until 1 December 2021. The conditions referred to in Sub-paragraphs 5.36.¹, 5.36.², 5.36.³ and in this Sub-paragraph of this Order shall be conformed to in taking of professional qualification examinations;

5.36.⁵ the unified vocational qualification examination of a lawyer, the vocational qualification examinations, and the qualification examinations for candidates to the office of a judge and for representatives of liberal legal professions on site shall take place only for persons with a primary vaccination, booster vaccine, or recovery certificate in conformity with the following conditions:

5.36.⁵ 1. before the beginning of each examination, the persons involved in holding the examination shall take a routine screening test;

5.36.⁵ 2. the persons involved in holding the examination shall use an FFP2 respirator during the examination;

5.36.⁵ 3. an area of at least 3 m2 of the publicly available indoor premises is provided per person;

5.36.⁵ 4. there may not be more than 20 persons in one examination room;

5.36.⁵ 5. ventilation of premises with a mechanical ventilation system or natural ventilation is ensured so that the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) does not exceed 1000 ppm, and also constant or regular control of the air quality is ensured to the extent possible;

5.36.⁵ 6. if a member of the commission notifies the Ministry of Justice of objective circumstances due to which he or she cannot oversee the examination at the planned time and place before the beginning of the State unified professional qualification examination of a lawyer in the relevant field, then a person appointed by an order of the Minister for Justice and acting with powers of a member of the commission shall oversee the examination at the respective time and place. The order of the Minister for Justice shall include officials or employees of the Ministry of Justice, and also members of the staff of those higher education institutions whose educatees are taking the examination. Higher education institutions shall inform the Ministry of Justice in writing of the persons to be included in the order of the Minister for Justice;

5.36.⁶ entrance examinations for higher education study programmes shall take place on site if the entrance examination has a practical part and it cannot be implemented remotely. The organiser of entrance examination shall ensure a possibility for the persons who cannot participate in the entrance examination as they are in home quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19 infection and they have documentary evidence thereon to take the entrance examination in the specified additional time. Entrance examinations shall be held on site by complying with the following conditions:

5.36.⁶ 1. only persons having a vaccination or recovery certificate or persons who have undergone an RNA test within the last 48 hours the result of which is negative participate therein. The interoperable certificate or certification of the test result shall be presented to the responsible persons of the educational institution in paper or digital form;

5.36.⁶ 2. the persons involved in holding entrance examinations use an FFP2 respirator during the examination (both in the examination room and outside of it);

5.36.⁶ 3. an area of at least 3 m2 of the publicly available indoor premises is provided per person;

5.36.⁶ 4. ventilation of premises with a mechanical ventilation system or natural ventilation is ensured so that the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) does not exceed 1000 ppm, and also constant or regular control of the air quality is ensured to the extent possible;

5.37. psychoemotional support to specific groups of inhabitants, including young persons, shall be provided remotely, but in crisis situations may be provided on site if the persons involved in the provision of the service who come into contact with the recipient of the service have a vaccination or recovery certificate;

5.37.¹ in work with the youth, young persons who have a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate, and also children who have an interoperable testing certificate or who have undergone a routine screening test or RNA determination test according to the algorithm of the Centre in the formal education at the basic and secondary level and the test result is negative may participate in on-site activities indoors and outdoors. The on-site support necessary in crisis situations may be provided in an epidemiologically unsafe environment. The following shall be ensured when implementing on-site activities in work with the youth:

5.37.¹ 1. activities take place upon prior registration;

5.37.¹ 2. at least 3 m² of the publicly available area of premises are ensured for each participant indoors;

5.37.¹ 3. the maximum number of participants in one group does not exceed 20 persons (excluding employees);

5.37.¹ 4. ventilation of premises with a mechanical ventilation system or natural ventilation is ensured so that the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) does not exceed 1 000 ppm but if it is not possible, supply of fresh air to a room is ensured for at least 15 minutes within an astronomical hour;

5.38. children's camps may be organised on site in conformity with the following conditions:

5.38.1. a group consists of not more than 20 participants. Participation of several groups is allowed in summer camps that are organised outdoors or in separate buildings if all the required epidemiological safety measures are being performed and it is ensured that participants of these groups and the personnel do not meet during the course of the summer camp;

5.38.2. the following may participate in a camp:

5.38.2.1. employees who have a vaccination or recovery certificate;

5.38.2.2. children under the age of 12 years who have undergone an RNA test within the last 72 hours before the beginning of the camp and it is negative, and also all participants of the camp undergo an antigen self-test during the course of the camp according to the algorithm of the Centre;

5.38.2.3. children above the age of 12 years who have a vaccination or recovery certificate;

5.38.3. the camp only takes place in a specific territory (location). No activities are organised outside this territory, except when the participants of summer camp are the only visitors at the specific place;

5.38.4. the participants of summer camp and the personnel use mouth and nose covers, except for children under the age of 7 years and participants of a sleepaway camp within the scope of one group;

5.38.5. the summer camp has appointed the responsible person and drawn up the procedure for actions if a case of COVID-19 infection is detected among the participants or personnel of the summer camp;

5.38.6. the Guidelines on Precautionary Measures for Organisers of Summer Camps for Children are complied with in the organisation of the summer camp;

5.39. such persons shall participate in the pedagogical and medical commission for the provision of a statement on an educational programme appropriate for an educatee on site who have a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate. In an exceptional cases, an educatee and his or her lawful representative may participate in a meeting of the commission also without a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate or without a certification (in paper or digital form) of a negative COVID-19 test result if the commission has been informed of the abovementioned fact in advance;

5.40. sports trainings indoors within the scope of an individual visit or in a group shall take place in an epidemiologically safe environment in conformity with the following conditions:

5.40.1. not less than 15 m² of the area of the space where training is held is provided per person (in public swimming pool - 10 m² of the area of water surface). If training is attended by educatees of one basic or secondary education level (of one grade) who have been tested for COVID-19 within the scope of a screening organised at the educational institution, then the abovementioned restriction on the area of the room or water surface is not applied. In types of mind sports where a person stays in a seat during the training, at least 3 m² of the available area shall be provided per person, and also face masks shall be used;

5.40.2. in group training not more than 20 persons concurrently gather in one training group in an organised manner. If it is permitted by the area of the space of the relevant sports training, the conditions referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.40.1 of this Order are conformed to, flows of different training groups do not overlap, and also separate supervision of their activity is ensured, the work of several training groups may take place at the same time;

5.40.3. a two-metre distance is maintained during a visit to the site where sports takes place (except for the premises of a sports training where training process takes place);

5.40.4. sports training is conducted by a person who conforms to the laws and regulations regarding the certification of sports specialists;

5.40.5. the occupancy of locker rooms concurrently does not exceed 25 %;

5.40.6. such persons do not participate in a sports training who are not directly involved in the organisation and course thereof, including lawful representatives of educatees;

5.41. sports training outdoors shall take place in an epidemiologically safe environment, conforming to the condition that not more than 20 persons gather at the same time in an organised manner in one training group (excluding sports specialists and sports employees), and the occupancy of locker rooms does not exceed 25 %. If it is permitted by the outdoor area of the relevant site where sports take place, the work of several training groups may take place at the same time if the flows of different training groups do not overlap and separate supervision of their activity is ensured;

5.42. in sports training in a group in the course of interest education and vocational orientation education programmes:

5.42.1. the following may participate indoors:

5.42.1.1. employees and educatees who have a vaccination or recovery certificate;

5.42.1.2. educatees of one grade of an educational institution of one basic or secondary education level within the scope of one training group who have been tested for COVID-19 within the scope of a screening organised at the educational institution;

5.42.1.3. educatees of swim training programmes up to 12 years of age if at least 6 m² of the water surface area of the swim training swimming pool is provided per one educatee;

5.42.1.4. individually (except for educatees who live in one household) or with the leader of the sports training who has a vaccination or recovery certificate and other persons are not present in the session room;

5.42.1.5. not more than 20 educatees of the basic education level under the age of 12 years who have undergone a routine screening test in the formal education according to the algorithm of the Centre and one leader of the sports training who has a vaccination or recovery certificate;

5.42.1.6. not more than 20 pre-school educatees if it is ensured that their flow does not overlap with educatees of the basic education level during the lessons. If indoor lessons of pre-school educatees overlap with the lessons of educatees of the basic education level, pre-school educatees shall, not earlier than 24 hours before, perform the antigen self-test under supervision of parents, notifying the responsible person of the result thereof, or shall perform the antigen self-test before the lesson in the presence of an authorised person and the parents, and the test result must be negative. The costs of testing shall be ensured by the implementer of the relevant interest education or vocational orientation education programme. The costs of testing may not be directly or indirectly transferred to parents. If the self-test is positive, the child and the parents or lawful representative of the child shall immediately leave the site where the lesson takes place;

5.42.1.7. children from 12 years of age who have undergone a routine screening test according to the algorithm of the Centre if the child does not have a vaccination or recovery certificate;

5.42.2. the following may participate outdoors:

5.42.2.1. employees and educatees who have a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate, educatees who have been tested for COVID-19 within the scope of a screening organised at the educational institution, and also pre-school educatees if not more than 20 persons gather in one training group (excluding sports specialists and sports employees), and the occupancy of the locker rooms does not exceed 25 %;

5.42.2.2. educatees of one grade of an educational institution of one basic or secondary education level within the scope of one training group who have been tested for COVID-19 within the scope of a screening organised at the educational institution;

5.43. Indoor and outdoor sports trainings of athletes of the Latvian national team (including youth and junior teams), Latvian Olympic team, and Latvian Paralympic team, athletes of teams of international and highest leagues of team sports (if the title of a champion of Latvia for adults is won in the sports competition), and also educatees of Murjāņi Sports Gymnasium and centres for the preparation of high-level athletes shall take place in an epidemiologically safe environment, and the conditions referred to in Sub-paragraphs 5.40.1, 5.40.2, 5.40.3, 5.40.5, and 5.41 of this Order shall not apply thereto;

5.44. sports competitions shall take place in an epidemiologically safe environment in conformity with the following conditions:

5.44.1. the competitions have been included in the calendar of competitions of the sports federation recognised in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Sports Law of the relevant type of sports, the calendar being published on its website (indicating the name, venue, and time of the competitions, and also the organiser of the competitions);

5.44.2. only persons who have a primary vaccination, booster vaccination, or recovery certificate, and also educatees who have been tested for COVID-19 within the scope of a screening organised at the educational institution may participate in the competitions and be at their venue, and the requirements laid down in Sub-paragraph 5.24 of this Order in relation to organising of public events must be ensured. Pre-school educatees may participate in the competitions if they undergo an antigen self-test in the presence of an authorised person and the parents before the competition, and it is negative;

5.44.3. two-metre distance is maintained during a visit to the site where indoor sports competitions take place, and also face masks are used (except for athletes during the course of sports competitions);

5.44.4. athletes of one team (also in individual types of sport) or sports employees serving athletes do not come into physical contact with athletes of other teams or sports employees serving other athletes (except for athletes during the course of the sports competitions);

5.44.5. the occupancy of locker rooms does not exceed 25 %;

5.44.6. giving of awards on site takes place only individually;

5.45. the restrictions on working hours and the conditions referred to in Sub-paragraphs 5.44.3, 5.44.4, 5.44.5, and 5.44.6 of this Order shall not apply to the sporting events of athletes of teams of highest leagues of team sports (if the title of a champion of Latvia for adults is won in the sports competition);

5.45.¹ international sporting events in which complete separation of all the persons involved in the organisation and course thereof from the persons not involved in the organisation and course of events is ensured may take place also in a partially epidemiologically safe environment and the restrictions on working hours and the conditions referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.44 of this Order shall not apply thereto;

5.46. spectators may attend sports competitions and international sporting events if they have a vaccination or recovery certificate and the conditions referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.24 of this Order in relation to organising of public events are ensured. Spectators may stand up during the course of sports competitions (also breaks), they may leave the seat only for a visit to a lavatory;

5.47. the Minister for Defence shall take the decision on the provision of support by the National Armed Forces to the State Border Guard, the State Police, the Prison Administration, and also to the civil defence system, assessing the impact of the request expressed on the fulfilment of the direct tasks of the National Armed Forces and the conformity level of preparedness of the National Armed Forces for the fulfilment of the relevant task. The Minister for Defence may also involve veterans of the National Guard in the provision of the abovementioned measures if a consent of a veteran of the National Guard has been received. A veteran of the National Guard shall receive a compensation in the amount of EUR 30 for one day of the fulfilment of such tasks, and also the rations specified for a soldier or its compensation. If a veteran of the National Guard has suffered damage to health while fulfilling the tasks specified in this Law, he or she has the right to paid health care in accordance with the procedures and in the amount laid down in the National Guard Law;

5.48. local governments:

5.48.1. in cooperation with laboratories shall ensure transport logistics for the supply of the materials necessary for screening of educational institutions and for the collection of sample from the particular educational institutions within their territory;

5.48.2. in cooperation with family doctors and medical treatment institutions which are involved in vaccination against COVID-19, shall organise and coordinate the vaccination process of the risk groups within their administrative territory, including by engaged in the surveying, informing of representatives of the risk groups, ensuring of transport and premises.

5.49. from 21 October 2021 until 14 November 2021, Sub-paragraphs 5.10, 5.11, 5.12, 5.12.¹, 5.13, 5.14, 5.14.¹, 5.15, 5.16, 5.19, 5.20, 5.22, 5.23, 5.24, 5.26, 5.33, 5.34, 5.36, 5.40, 5.41, 5.42, 5.43, 5.44, 5.45, and 5.46 of this Order shall not applied and the following requirements are laid down:

5.49.1. movement of inhabitants shall be prohibited in the period between 20.00 and 5.00, determining an obligation for inhabitants to stay at their place of residence or place of stay, including to reduce direct contacts with other persons. If a person presents a filled-in certification and a personal identification document, the movement prohibition shall not be applicable:

5.49.1.1. to persons who are going to their place of employment or service or are coming back therefrom or are performing their work or service duties;

5.49.1.2. to movement which is necessary for the receipt of psychological support, medical treatment services (including vaccination against COVID-19 infection), or services of animal veterinary medical care or for a visit to a 24-hour pharmacy;

5.49.1.3. to movement in order to get to the place where carriage of passengers is provided at an airport, port, railway station, or bus terminal or to return from it to the place of residence;

5.49.2. in the case referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.49.1.1 of this Order, a person shall indicate their given name, surname, personal identity number, address of the place of residence, reason and time for leaving the place of residence or place of stay, name and address of the place of employment, telephone number of the employer or a contact person appointed by him or her;

5.49.3. in the case referred to in Sub-paragraphs 5.49.1.2 and 5.49.1.3 of this Order, a person shall indicate their given name, surname, personal identity number, address of the place of residence or place of stay, reason and time for leaving the place of residence or place of stay, and also place where the service is to be received;

5.49.4. in the time period from 20.00 until 5.00 taxi services and carriage by a passenger car for hire or reward, and also transport services ensured by the employer may be used in order to go to or from work, to arrive at the place where services of carriage of passengers are provided at an airport, port, railway station, or bus terminal or to return from it to the place of residence, to go to a 24-hour pharmacy, institution of psychological support or medical treatment institution, or veterinary medical institution or to return from it. Only one passenger or members of one household, or a passenger with a minor child or with a person who requires the help of an assistant or who has objective difficulties due to age or functional disorders may be present in a taxi;

5.49.5. only members of one household or two persons who are not members of one household shall be permitted to travel with a private vehicle. In accompanying a minor child or a person who requires the help of an assistant or who has objective difficulties due to age or functional disorders, up to three persons from several households shall be permitted to travel in a private vehicle. This restriction shall not apply to employees (officials) who are employed in sectors of critical importance to the public (medical practitioners, employees of security services (State Police, municipal police, State Border Guard, State Security Service, Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, Prison Administration) and rescue services, employees of the department of defence, foreign affairs, and internal affairs, officials of the State Revenue Service who ensure continuity of the operation of the institution, inspectors of the Border Control Department of the Food and Veterinary Service, employees of mass media) and perform work (service) duties in one unit, assignment, shift, or collective, coming into mutual contact, and use a vehicle to go to the place of employment (service) or to return from it. All persons in the vehicle shall use face masks;

5.49.5.¹ three persons who are not members of the same household may, with a certificate of the employer, concurrently travel with a vehicle (except for public transport) to get to the place of work and return from it to the place of residence, using face masks and ensuring natural ventilation. More than three persons may concurrently travel in a vehicle which has more than five seats if the occupancy of 50 % is not exceeded;

5.49.6. places where economic services are provided on site and places of trading shall start work not earlier than at 6.00 and end work not later than at 19.00. The working hours of service stations and 24-hour pharmacies, the working hours of tourist accommodations, the time for the provision of services of COVID-19 vaccination points, and also public transport, carriage of freight and passengers and services related thereto, delivery services, services of liquidation of an accident and emergency utilities shall not be restricted;

5.49.7. all public events, and also expressions of protected peaceful freedom of assembly (meetings, processions, and pickets) shall be revoked and prohibited;

5.49.8. private events and private gatherings shall be prohibited, except for events within one household. If care needs to be provided to a person or a person lives alone in the household, visitations are allowed but only within the scope of not more than two households. Meetings between minor children and their parents shall also be permissible if the children and parents are not members of one household, except when the child, any of the parents or members of the parent's household must comply with the isolation, home quarantine or self-isolation requirements;

5.49.9. not more than 20 persons may gather in funerals outdoors, not more than 10 persons, however, from not more than two households may gather for holding christening ceremonies in emergency cases, excluding persons who are directly related to ensuring the course of the funeral or christening ceremony;

5.49.10. all employees who work on site (including fully vaccinated and recovered persons) shall, upon arriving at the place of work, certify in writing that they do not have signs of an acute respiratory infection, they are not obliged to undertake isolation, home quarantine or self-isolation, and they have no knowledge of being into direct contact with a person infected with COVID-19 within the last 10 days. Employees working on site have an obligation to immediately inform the employer if their infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus has been established by a laboratory. In order to reduce the risks of the spread of COVID-19, an employer may organise testing for COVID-19 of all employees working on site (including fully vaccinated employees or employees who have recovered). In such case the costs of testing for COVID-19 shall be covered from the funds of the employer;

5.49.11. a State authority, a State capital company, or an accredited competence verification authority which, according to the task delegated by the State, performs certification of specialists and issues relevant documents may, by an individual decision, suspend the issuing of certificates, licences, certifications, attestations, passes, permits, registration documents, and other similar documents. In taking the decision to suspend the issuing of documents, the time period for the use of the certificate, licence, certification, attestation, pass, permit, registration document, or another document already issued shall be decided which may not be longer than one month after the end of the emergency situation;

5.49.12. the on-site operation of cultural sites, libraries, and exhibition venues, and also activities related to the organisation of street vending (including fairs) shall be discontinued. Organised rehearsals of professional art collectives, and also preparation of recordings, performances, and concerts may take place at cultural sites from 6.00 to 19.00;

5.49.13. the sites where religious activities are performed shall be open only for individual visits or persons from one household, ensuring at least 15 m² of the publicly available area of premises per person and ensuring that not more than 20 % of the total possible number of persons which is permitted by the area of premises and infrastructure available to visitors are concurrently present at the site where religious activities are performed. The site where religious activities are performed shall commence activity from 6.00 and end activity until 19.00;

5.49.14. the spiritual and serving staff shall, from 4 November 2021 until 7 November 2021, perform their duties at the sites where religious activities are performed, without restrictions on the working hours, ensuring broadcasting and recording of religious ceremonies outside the working hours specified in Sub-paragraph 5.49.13 of this Order without the presence of visitors;

5.49.15. the following conditions for the provision of a service shall be complied with in the provision of public services:

5.49.15.1. the service is provided completely remotely;

5.49.15.2. the provision of the service on site shall be permitted if the on-site contact during receipt of the service does not exceed 15 minutes, the service provider and the recipient have a vaccination or recovery certificate and the service is provided upon prior appointment;

5.49.15.3. the provision of the service on site (except for examination of the proficiency in the official language), if the on-site contact during provision of the service exceeds 15 minutes, shall be permissible only in case of an objective emergency if it is not possible to provide it remotely or the provision of the service remotely causes risk to ensuring the fundamental human rights or public safety and the service provider has a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate;

5.49.16. it is prohibited to provide on-site economic services which are related to entertainment, gambling, bets, amusements (including in aquaparks, entertainment and amusement centres, trampoline parks), beauty treatment, wellness, active recreation, physical activities, sports, tourism (except for accommodation and foreign travels), photo and video services (except for making of photographs for documents and ensuring the work of mass media), online consultations, collective hunting;

5.49.17. economic services, except for the services referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.49.16 of this Order and services for which special requirements have not been laid down, shall be provided, providing an area of at least 15 m² of the publicly available premises per visitor;

5.49.18. it shall be permitted to provide only take-away meals or meals with delivery at catering sites if the service provider who comes into close contact with the recipient of service has a vaccination or recovery certificate, an area of at least 15 m² of the publicly available indoor premises is provided per person, and face masks are used, excluding:

5.49.18.1. undertakings under the condition that the relevant catering facility is not publicly available and it is ensured that flows of groups of people which are not in everyday contact do not overlap, one table is occupied only by one person during meals, and the tables are placed at a two-metre distance from one another;

5.49.18.2. educational institutions under the condition that the relevant catering facility is not publicly available and it is ensured that flows of groups of people which are not in everyday contact do not overlap;

5.49.18.3. the catering facilities in the terminal of the State joint stock company International Airport Riga, ensuring that at least a three-metre distance is maintained between persons sitting at different tables if a limiting wall has not been placed between the tables and that there are not more than four visitors at one table who are not members of one household;

5.49.18.4. the provision of services to participants of sports teams at the site where they are staying if it is ensured that groups of persons which do not come into everyday contact do not physically overlap;

5.49.18.5. catering of prisoners at prisons;

5.49.19. it shall be determined that trade services on site are only be provided by:

5.49.19.1. food shops where at least 70 % of the assortment are food products, hygiene products, animal feed, and periodicals;

5.49.19.2. hygiene product shops where at least 70 % of the assortment are hygiene products;

5.49.19.3. medicinal product trading sites where at least 90 % of the assortment of goods are medicinal products, and pharmacies (including veterinary pharmacies);

5.49.19.4. optical goods shops;

5.49.19.5. service stations;

5.49.19.6. animal feed shops;

5.49.19.7. press trading sites;

5.49.19.8. book shops;

5.49.19.9. computer, their peripheral devices and software, and also telecommunication equipment shops;

5.49.19.10. flower trading sites;

5.49.19.11. registered bus terminals which, in accordance with the laws and regulations, ensure selling of tickets and the ticket offices at railway stations in which tickets only to domestic railway routes are being sold;

5.49.20. only trading in food products and the goods referred to in Sub-paragraphs 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 of Cabinet Regulation No. 440 of 12 May 2010, Regulations Regarding the Types of Trade to Be Agreed upon with a Local Government and the Procedures for Organising of Trade, shall be permitted at fairs and street vending sites;

5.49.21. a provider of trade services and buyers shall use face masks during trade at street vending sites and in the territory of an open market;

5.49.22. the restrictions on trade specified in Sub-paragraph 5.49.19 of this Order shall not be applied to trade in goods using distance means of communication. Tobacco products, electronic smoking devices and refill containers may be sold and purchased through the use of distance means of communication if the trader ensures verification of the identity and age of the buyer;

5.49.23. a service provider shall ensure issuing of the goods purchased using means of distance communication only outdoors (visitors may not be in the premises of the trading site) or with delivery of goods. The visitors shall arrive for the receipt of the goods bought remotely only one at a time, except for persons requiring the help of an assistant, persons who have objective difficulties to take care of themselves due to age or functional disorders, and minor children who may be accompanied by one person of legal age. An employee of the on-site place of trading is prohibited to order goods instead of the client, using distance means of communication;

5.49.24. a provider of a trade service shall ensure at least 25 m² of the publicly available area of premises per visitor at the place of trading. At places of trading where one visitor has less than 25 m² of the publicly available area of premises, only one person is allowed at the same time;

5.49.25. the restrictions laid down in Sub-paragraphs 5.49.19 and 5.49.24 of this Order shall not apply to the permanent points of sale established by the merchant in prisons (prison shops). The rights of prisoners to make purchases in the prison shop laid down by laws and regulations shall be ensured in conformity with the prison infrastructure and the epidemiological safety requirements specified for prisons;

5.49.26. the restrictions laid down in Sub-paragraphs 5.49.6 and 5.49.19 of this Order shall not apply to the places of trading in the terminal of the State joint stock company International Airport Riga and the services related thereto;

5.49.27. the following organisation of judicial proceedings shall be determined:

5.49.27.1. a court shall use the written procedure as much as possible or shall examine cases remotely;

5.49.27.2. oral hearing of a case on site shall be held if it is not possible to ensure examination of the case in the written procedure or remotely and examination of the case is related to a significant violation of the rights of a person and an objective urgency;

5.49.27.3. if it is not possible to ensure examination of a case in the written procedure or remotely and the issue is not related to a significant violation of the rights of a person and an objective urgency, the examination of the case shall be postponed;

5.49.28. all sporting events are prohibited and shall be cancelled, except for:

5.49.28.1. sports competitions included in the calendar of sports competitions of international sports federations (including official trainings intended before the competition) for athletes of adult teams (in team sports - also for athletes of junior teams in the age from 16 years) if they are included in the list of permitted sports competitions published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science and are held without spectators;

5.49.28.2. the sports competitions of team sports of international and highest leagues in which only professional athletes (persons who, on contractual basis and for the remuneration agreed, are preparing for sports competitions and participate therein) participate if they are included in the list of permitted sports competitions published on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science and are held without spectators;

5.49.29. sports training (sessions), including within the scope of interest education and vocational orientation education programmes, shall be organised only remotely, except for the training of athletes of the Latvian adult team (in team sports - also for athletes of junior teams in the age from 16 years), Latvian Olympic team, and Latvian Paralympic team, and also professional athletes of teams of international and highest leagues of team sports (persons who, on contractual basis and for the remuneration agreed, are preparing for sports competitions and participate therein) in an epidemiologically safe environment, and also official training of athletes of adult teams (including foreign) which are related to the preparation for participation in Winter Olympic Games of 2022;

5.49.30. live broadcasting or recording of broadcasts of the cultural, sporting events and religious events referred to in this Paragraph, and also creation of the audiovisual works necessary for cultural and advertising purposes and ensuring the remote learning or work process shall be permitted;

5.49.31. it shall be determined that the autumn holidays in the 2021/2022 academic year are extended until 29 October 2021. The abovementioned conditions shall not apply to the educational institution for social correction "Naukšēni" and special educational institutions, and also to the acquisition of education in distance learning;

5.49.32. the provision of child supervision services shall be continued if the lawful representative of the child is unable to work remotely and cannot ensure supervision of the child;

5.49.33. the learning process on site shall be discontinued and the learning shall be ensured remotely, except for:

5.49.33.1. the completion of pre-school education programmes if the lawful representative of the child is unable to work remotely and cannot ensure supervision of the child (including the completion of an international educational programme in a corresponding age group of educatees). Implementation of a pre-school education programme in joint groups from one educational institution shall be permitted, ensuring to the extent possible the unchangeability of the composition of educatees of the group;

5.49.33.2. the completion of a general education programme from grade 1 to grade 3 (including the completion of an international educational programme in the age group of educatees corresponding to the relevant grades from 1 November 2021);

5.49.33.3. practical training (to be implemented on site only at an educational institution) and clinical training or practice (to be implemented on site only at medical treatment institutions) in the completion of vocational education programmes in the field of health care and veterinary medicine in regulated professions and specialities, including residency;

5.49.33.4. the completion of the programme at the educational institution for social correction Naukšēni, in special educational institutions and such special education classes of educational institutions in which special basic education programme is implemented for pupils with severe mental disorders or several severe mental disorders, and also to pupils with mental disorders of special basic education programmes and the completion of a general education programme at the Cesis Correctional Facility for Juveniles. The completion of educational programmes at special educational institutions and the special education classes referred to in this Sub-paragraph may be implemented remotely according to a coordinated decision of the head and founder of the educational institution and the procedures specified in the educational institution, assessing the epidemiological situation and the availability of employees for the implementation and ensuring of high-quality learning process;

5.49.33.5. taking of professional qualification examinations in vocational initial education, vocational basic education, vocational secondary education programmes, continuing vocational education programmes if their course has been planned until 27 October 2021;

5.49.33.6. from 1 November 2021 in individual learning of independent practical skills of a vocational education (including vocational orientation) programme at an educational institution without the presence of the teacher;

5.49.34. an educatee of a vocational education programme is entitled to stay at an official accommodation facility if, on the basis of a suggestion of the psychologist or social pedagogue of the educational institution, the educational institution has decided thereon. In such case the official accommodation facility shall be considered as the place of residence of the educatee and the educatee shall conform to the conditions of Sub-paragraph 5.49 of this Order. An educatee who does not have a vaccination or recovery certificate shall be provided with a routine screening approach, and also an antigen test once a week;

5.49.35. a person studying in higher education programmes is entitled to stay at an official accommodation facility with a vaccination or recovery certificate. In such case the official accommodation facility shall be considered as the place of residence of the student and the student shall conform to the conditions of Sub-paragraph 5.49 of this Order;

5.49.36. the completion of adult continuing vocational training, vocational in-service training, and non-formal adult education programmes at prisons shall be discontinued;

5.49.37. camps are not organised;

5.49.38. a carrier of public transport shall:

5.49.38.1. organise the boarding and disembarking from the public transport so that the number of passengers in a city and commuter vehicle does not exceed 50 % of its capacity, but if it is not possible to control the boarding and disembarking of passengers from the vehicle due to the specific nature thereof seats are marked in the vehicle, ensuring conformity with the distancing requirements;

5.49.38.2. ensure continuous natural ventilation in a vehicle;

5.49.39. providers of the local government and public transport service which receive subsidies from local governments shall not apply fare reliefs. Local governments may decide on determining fare reliefs or compensation for the actual fare:

5.49.39.1. to educatees for whom the learning process takes place on site;

5.49.39.2. to persons who are involved in the medical treatment process;

5.49.39.3. to employed persons - employees of educational institutions, persons who are involved in the provision of social care services, employees of the State and municipal police (officials);

5.49.40. until 14 November 2021, in implementation of the learning process remotely in accordance with Sub-paragraph 5.49 of this Order, the requirements of Paragraphs 125, 126, and 128 of Cabinet Regulation No. 662 of 28 September 2021, Epidemiological Safety Measures for the Containment of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection, shall be applied to ensuring of the catering service and the service of an assistant;

5.49.41. employees of scientific institutions shall perform work duties remotely, except for when it is necessary to ensure continuity of the operation of scientific institutions, to preserve the infrastructure and wildlife resources, and also to fulfil the liabilities in projects:

5.49.41.1. for preservation of the experimental base and infrastructure of science, to ensure continuity of the operation of equipment and preservation of functioning abilities, optimum living conditions for living organisms (experimental animals, micro-organisms, etc.), the operation of the infrastructure in emergency circumstances, including continuous supply of energy, gases, materials, feed, and other material resources;

5.49.41.2. to ensure the safety requirements for work with toxic or powerfully acting substances and materials and dangerous equipment;

5.49.41.3. to ensure taking of readings in particular moments of time and the urgent activities necessary for the particular stage of the study, particularly in geodesy, astronomy, environmental science, meteorology, other experimental sciences and medicine, and also in long-term and longitudinal studies;

5.49.41.4. to ensure the fulfilment of liabilities in projects in which reactants with a term of validity have been purchased, there are liabilities with specific time periods in relation to merchants or international or local partners;

5.49.41.5. to ensure the performance of critical experimental works, including the long-term experiments and experimental works which are related to the development of preventive and therapeutic antiviral means, and also to the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 variants and assessment of the epidemiological situation, and laboratory testing;

5.49.42. during home quarantine fully vaccinated persons or persons who have recovered have the right to receive a work disability statement;

5.49.¹ [18 January 2022];

5.50. general practitioners who are in contractual relationship with the National Health Service shall contact the patients above the age of 60 years who are registered in the list of patients of the relevant general practitioner and who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to invite the patients to commence vaccination against COVID-19 at the location of the practice of the general practitioner, at a cooperation institution, or at the place of residence of the patient if the patient is above the age of 70 years;

5.51. upon request of a general practitioner who is in contractual relationship with the National Health Service, the local government shall, using the data transferred by the general practitioner and the personal data (contact information) at the disposal of the local government, ensure communication with patients in the age above 60 years who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to invite patients to perform vaccination at the location of the practice of the family doctor, at a cooperation institution, or at the place of residence of the patient if the patient is more than 70 years old;

5.52. upon request of a family doctor who is in contractual relationship with the National Health Service or upon request of a cooperation institution of a family doctor, the local government shall ensure transportation in order to transport the patients from 60 years of age who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 for the receipt of the service or for the provision of the vaccination service of family doctors at the place of residence of the patient if the patient is more than 70 years old;

5.53. the National Health Service is entitled to transfer data to a local government on the persons declared in the relevant local government (given name, surname, and telephone number) so that the local government would, using the data transferred by the National Health Service and the personal data (contact details) at the disposal of local government, ensure communication with the abovementioned persons and invite them to vaccinate against COVID-19;

5.54. Sub-paragraphs 5.10 and 5.13 of this Order shall not apply to the examination of the proficiency in the official language as a public service. Examination of the proficiency in the official language shall take place in an epidemiologically safe environment or partially safe epidemiological environment if the following conditions are conformed to:

5.54.1. verification of interoperable certificates takes place;

5.54.2. the presence of such persons is precluded who do not conform to the requirements for staying in an epidemiologically safe environment or partially safe epidemiological environment;

5.54.3. compliance with the general and specific epidemiological safety requirements laid down in this Order is ensured;

5.54.4. not more than five persons are in one examination room, excluding the service provider, if the examination takes place in partially safe epidemiological environment;

5.54.5. the service provider has a vaccination or recovery certificate.

5.55. [12 January 2022];

5.56. [12 January 2022];

5.57. [12 January 2022];

5.58. [12 January 2022];

5.58.¹ from 24 December 2021 until 11 January 2022, when entering the Republic of Latvia from the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Belgium, Ireland, the Russian Federation, persons (including also with a vaccination or recovery certificate) shall, before boarding a vehicle of the carrier, present an RNA test taken within the last 72 hours or an antigen test taken within the last 48 hours the result of which is negative;

5.58.² the persons referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.58.¹ of this Order who are using a vehicle of the international carrier shall present to the carrier a valid interoperable certificate in paper form or on a smart device or a COVID-19 test report with the test result. The carrier shall visually or electronically verify the validity of the presented document. If the person is unable to present any of the abovementioned documents, the international carrier shall refuse embarking of the vehicle;

5.58.³ if a person who has entered the Republic of Latvia from the country referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.58.¹ of this Order without using a vehicle of the carrier and has not been tested for COVID-19 prior to entering the Republic of Latvia, he or she shall undergo the test immediately after entering the country, but not later than within 24 hours at the nearest laboratory;

5.59. when entering the Riga International Airport, a person (including persons who have an interoperable vaccination or recovery certificate):

5.59.1. is provided with a possibility to undergo a RNA test free of charge in the territory of the Riga International Airport;

5.59.2. is obliged to undergo the test referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.59.1 of this Order in the territory of the Riga International Airport upon request of an airport employee or a representative of the State Border Guard or State Police;

5.60. a person who has undergone the test referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.59.2 of this Order:

5.60.1. immediately go to his or her place of residence, place of stay, or tourist accommodation establishment to wait for the test result;

5.60.2. immediately contact his or her general practitioner and conduct strict isolation in case of a positive test;

5.61. the provisions of Sub-paragraphs 5.58.¹ and 5.59.2 of this Order shall not be applicable in the cases specified in Paragraph 167 of Cabinet Regulation No. 662 of 28 September 2021, Epidemiological Safety Measures for the Containment of the Spread of COVID-19 Infection;

5.62. the National Health Service is entitled to transfer data to the State Revenue Service on persons who have commenced vaccination or who have an interoperable certificate confirming vaccination against COVID-19 or the fact of recovery from this infection, or who need not be vaccinated on the basis of an opinion of a specialist of a clinical university hospital or a decision of the medical panel of a clinical university hospital on necessity to postpone the vaccination of the person so that the State Revenue Service, using the data transferred by the National Health Service, can prepare a decision on aid for wage subsidy in accordance with Cabinet Regulation No. 675 of 10 November 2020, Regulations Regarding the Provision of Aid to Taxpayers for the Continuation of their Activity in the Circumstances of the COVID-19 Crisis.

[13 October 2021; 20 October 2021; 27 October 2021; 3 November 2021; 11 November 2021; 24 November 2021; 26 November 2021; 1 December 2021; 7 December 2021; 14 December 2021; 22 December 2021; 7 January 2022; 12 January 2022; 18 January 2022; 26 January 2022; 2 February 2022; 10 February 2022; 15 February 2022; 24 February 2022]

6. A natural person has an obligation to comply with the requirements referred to in Paragraph 5 of this Order, whereas, the organiser of the event or the provider of the economic or public service has an obligation to ensure that the person has a possibility to comply therewith.

7. The control of the restrictions referred to in Paragraph 5 of this Order shall be ensured by the State Police in cooperation with the municipal police, the State Border Guard, the State Labour Inspectorate and the State Education Quality Service.

[13 October 2021]

8. It shall be permitted to determine such overtime working hours for civil servants and employees of the State Revenue Service, the State Education Quality Service, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the State Chancellery, the State Labour Inspectorate, the border control inspectors of the Food and Veterinary Service, the civil servants and employees of the system of the Ministry of the Interior and the Prison Administration, and also officials with special service ranks of the system of the Ministry of the Interior which exceeds the maximum overtime work specified in the Labour Law, the Law on the Career Course of Service of Officials with Special Service Ranks Working in Institutions of the System of the Ministry of the Interior and the Prison Administration, but does not exceed 60 hours per week. The provisions of Section 136, Paragraph four of the Labour Law shall not be applicable to the cases referred to in this Paragraph. The Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Welfare, and the State Chancellery shall request the additional financial resources necessary for overtime work remuneration from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events".

[18 January 2022]

8.¹ If the ability of the relevant institution of the system of the Ministry of the Interior to ensure the performance of service tasks is endangered due to the persons with special service ranks of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior being ill with COVID-19, the head of the institution of the system of the Ministry of the Interior or his or her authorised official is entitled to determine a shorter period of weekly rest of the officials with special service ranks of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior and the Prison Administration than provided for in Section 28, Paragraph three of the Law on the Career Course of Service of Officials with Special Service Ranks Working in Institutions of the System of the Ministry of the Interior and the Prison Administration. In determining a shorter period of weekly rest, the nature of the performance of service duties and the need to reduce the fatigue caused by the performance of service duties shall be taken into account.

[18 January 2022]

8.² Payment to the officials with special service ranks of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior who ensure continuity of the operation of the relevant institution during the spread of COVID-19 for the fulfilment of the service duties exceeding the time specified for the performance of service duties shall be disbursed (considering the amount of overtime work in the relevant calendar month, taking into account that the registration period of the time for the performance of service duties is four calendar months, and without exceeding 144 hours in such four-month period) once a month. The Ministry of the Interior shall request the additional financial resources necessary for overtime work remuneration from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events".

[18 January 2022]

9. The determination of such overtime work which exceeds the maximum overtime work specified in the Labour Law but does not exceed 60 hours per week together with the normal work time shall be allowed for the employees of municipal police, Orphan's and Custody Court and local government social service offices, and also for the employees of providers of such social services which ensure accommodation, care, and supervision. The provisions of Section 136, Paragraph four of the Labour Law shall not be applicable to the cases referred to in this Paragraph.

9.¹ The State Emergency Medical Service shall be permitted to employ persons who receive a service pension in accordance with the Law on Service Pensions of Employees of the State Emergency Medical Service Involved in Ensuring of Emergency Medical Assistance. The disbursement of the service pension shall be retained for the abovementioned persons.

[20 October 2021]

9.² The head of a medical treatment institution, if it is necessary for ensuring the continuity of the operation of the medical treatment institution, shall, at any moment, call in employees from a leave (except for a parental leave) or shall not grant a leave (except for a parental leave). It is possible for the head of a medical treatment institution, if it is necessary for ensuring the continuity of the operation of the medical treatment institution, not to send an employee in a leave or to call in an employee from an official travel.

[20 October 2021]

9.³ State and local government capital companies the type of the basic activity of which is the provision of health care services and which provide inpatient health care services to COVID-19 patients have the right to organise volunteer work in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Volunteer Work Law.

[3 November 2021]

9.⁴ Insurance of a performer of volunteer work shall not be ensured for the work performed by a volunteer in the medical treatment institutions specified in Paragraph 9.³ of this Order.

[3 November 2021]

9.⁵ In order to ensure emergency medical assistance, assistance in acute cases, or medical treatment of COVID-19 patients, the head of a medical treatment institution may send an employee, including an employee placed on furlough, for the performance of work duties to another medical treatment institution in the territory of cooperation approved under a decision of the State Operative Medical Commission (hereinafter - the cooperation territory). Based on a written consent of the employee, he or she may be assigned to perform work duties at a medical treatment institution which is outside the cooperation territory.

[3 November 2021]

9.⁶ An employee may be temporarily sent for the performance of the work duties specified in Paragraph 9.⁵ of this Order only until the end of the emergency situation.

[3 November 2021]

9.⁷ A medical treatment institution which sends an employee for work at another medical treatment institution shall enter into a contract with the National Health Service for the compensation of the revenues not earned by the medical treatment institution in relation to sending the staff for work at another medical treatment institution.

[3 November 2021]

9.⁸ In order to prevent a crisis situation of medical treatment institutions of Latvia and the State Emergency Medical Service in relation to deficiency of medical oxygen, medical oxygen and the installation and maintenance work of its systems shall be procured on the basis of the exception included in Section 8, Paragraph seven, Clause 3 of the Public Procurement Law. In order to ensure the supply of medical oxygen and maintenance of the relevant systems in a longer term, the open procurement procedures specified in the Public Procurement Law shall be applied. The Minister for Health shall determine the person responsible for handling these issues.

[3 November 2021]

9.⁹ The State Emergency Medical Service may, in addition to the profiles of emergency medical assistance teams specified in Cabinet Regulation No. 60 of 20 January 2009, Regulations Regarding Mandatory Requirements for Medical Treatment Institutions and Their Structural Units, and their compositions from the available staff resources, form additional emergency medical assistance teams for patients who require the support of medical practitioners during transportation from the multi-profile clinical university hospital valsts sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību "Paula Stradiņa klīniskā universitātes slimnīca" [State limited liability company Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital] and sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību "Rīgas Austrumu klīniskā universitātes slimnīca" [limited liability company Riga East University Hospital] to their cooperation institutions.

[3 November 2021]

9.¹⁰ In order to ensure continuous health care, employers are entitled to employ persons working in the health sector without the performance of the mandatory health examination in accordance with the laws and regulations governing the procedures for performing the mandatory health examination if the performance of the mandatory health examination affects the performance of the direct duties of employees of the medical treatment institution which are directed towards restriction of COVID-19 infection. The exception shall not apply to the initial health examination for persons intended to be employed in work in special conditions in accordance with Annex 2 to Cabinet Regulation No. 219 of 10 March 2009, Procedures for the Performance of Mandatory Health Examinations.

[3 November 2021]

9.¹¹ The employee referred to in Paragraph 9.¹⁰ of this Order has an obligation to provide, upon request of the employer, information on his or her health condition, insofar as it is relevant for the performance of the intended work.

[3 November 2021]

9.¹² The procedures laid down in Cabinet Regulation No. 47 of 21 January 2021, Procedures for the Provision of Temporary Professional Services in a Profession Regulated in the Republic of Latvia, shall be applicable to medical practitioners (physicians, nurses, midwives, assistant physicians) who arrive from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Singapore in the Republic of Latvia for the provision of emergency medical assistance, the provision of assistance in acute cases, and the medical treatment of and care for COVID-19 patients.

[11 November 2021]

9.¹³ The procedures laid down in Paragraphs 29, 30, and 31 of Cabinet Regulation No. 317 of 24 May 2021, Procedures for the Creation, Supplementation, and Maintenance of the Register of Medical Practitioners and Medical Treatment Support Persons, shall be applicable to medical practitioners (physicians, nurses, midwives, assistant physicians) who arrive from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Singapore in the Republic of Latvia for the provision of emergency medical assistance, the provision of assistance in acute cases, and the medical treatment of and care for COVID-19 patients.

[11 November 2021]

9.¹⁴ Chapter V of Cabinet Regulation No. 943 of 18 December 2012, Procedures for Certification of Medical Practitioners, shall also be applicable to medical practitioners (physicians, nurses, midwives, assistant physicians) who have performed professional activity in the basic speciality, sup-speciality, additional speciality, or medical or diagnostic method indicated in the certificate in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Singapore and who arrive in the Republic of Latvia for the provision of emergency medical assistance, the provision of assistance in acute cases, and the medical treatment of and care for COVID-19 patients.

[11 November 2021]

9.¹⁵ A medical treatment institution may employ medical practitioners if it is able to ensure the communication necessary for the performance of professional activity of the medical practitioner (for example, with the assistance of an interpreter), including to provide information to a patient in a comprehensible manner, and also the communication with the medical practitioners, medical treatment support persons, and staff at the medical treatment institution.

[11 November 2021]

9.¹⁶ Expenditures of medical practitioners who arrive in the Republic of Latvia to engage in the provision of emergency medical assistance, the provision of assistance in acute cases, and the medical treatment of and care for COVID-19 patients, which are related to getting of medical practitioners from the country of residence to the Republic of Latvia, and expenditures for a hotel (lodging), in accordance with the laws and regulations, may be covered by the medical treatment institution. Expenditures related to the travel (transport) and hotel (lodging) shall be covered from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events" based on the actually required amount.

[11 November 2021]

9.¹⁷ For a medical practitioner for whom the term of registration with the Register of Medical Practitioners and Medical Treatment Support Persons has expired within the last five years, it is renewed for the period of the emergency situation if the medical practitioner engages in the provision of emergency medical assistance, the provision of assistance in acute cases, and the medical treatment of and care for COVID-19 patients.

[11 November 2021]

9.¹⁸ In order to ensure the availability of the most essential primary health care services, general practitioners may discontinue provision of the following services during the emergency situation:

9.¹⁸ 1. preparation of referrals to the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health Condition and Working Ability for repeated expert-examination in accordance with Paragraph 9 of the Transitional Provisions of the Disability Law;

9.¹⁸ 2. issuing of medical statements for vehicle drivers;

9.¹⁸ 3. issuing of authorisation for the possession and carrying of a weapon.

[2 February2022]

10. For officials with special service ranks of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior and the Tax and Customs Police and Customs Board of the State Revenue Service, and also employees of the municipal police and the border control inspectors of the Food and Veterinary Service a supplement in the amount of 75 per cent of the hourly wage rate shall be determined for work under conditions of increased risk and workload due to the outbreak of COVID-19 infection and elimination of its consequences. The criteria for the determination and the procedures for the granting of the supplement in relation to the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior shall be determined by the Minister for the Interior, in relation to the State Revenue Service - by the Minister for Finance, but in relation to the border control inspectors of the Food and Veterinary Service - by the Minister for Agriculture. The criteria for the determination and the procedures for the granting of the supplement in relation to employees of the municipal police shall be determined by the relevant local government council. The expenditure related to the supplements shall be covered from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events" based on the actually required amount.

[20 October 2021]

10.¹ In accordance with Section 14, Paragraph four of the Law on Remuneration of Officials and Employees of State and Local Government Authorities, and Section 67 and Section 138, Paragraph one of the Labour Law, the expenses associated with supplements for work during night to officials with special service ranks of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior and employees of the municipal police who are engaged in overtime work (performance of service duties for a period exceeding the time specified for the performance of duties) within the period from 21 October 2021 until 14 November 2021 in order to control the compliance with the prohibition of citizen movement between the hours of 22.00 and 5.00 shall be covered from:

10.¹ 1. the State budget programme "Funds for Unforeseen Events" - for the officials with special service ranks of the institutions of the system of the Ministry of the Interior;

10.¹ 2. the State budget programme "Funds for Unforeseen Events" and funds of local government budget - for employees of a municipal police.

[27 October 2021]

10.² Local government authorities shall be indemnified for the expenses associated with supplements for work during night to employees of municipality police who control the compliance with the prohibition of citizen movement between the hours of 22.00 and 5.00 within the period from 21 October 2021 until 14 November 2021 from the State budget programme "Funds for Unforeseen Events" in the amount of 75 per cent of the calculated amount of remuneration (including the mandatory State social insurance contributions of the employer).

[27 October 2021]

10.³ For the performance of service duties at medical treatment institutions under conditions of increased risk and workload due to the outbreak of COVID-19 infection and elimination of its consequences, a soldier of the National Armed Forces shall, in addition to the monthly wage, be disbursed a supplement in the amount of 100 per cent of the monthly wage specified for him or her. A compensation for the performance of service tasks in the amount specified in laws and regulations, multiplying it by the coefficient of 2, shall be disbursed to a national guard for each when such tasks are performed. Expenditures which are related to the implementation of the measures specified in this Paragraph shall be financed from the State budget resources allocated to the Ministry of Defence and, where necessary, upon a justified request of the National Armed Forces according to the actual expenditures, shall be allocated from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events".

[3 November 2021]

10.⁴ The National Armed Forces shall compensate such work remuneration for the employer which has been disbursed thereby to an employee who is a national guardsman if the employer has retained work remuneration for such employee during the time when the employee as a national guardsman has been involved in the measures specified in Paragraph 10.³ of this Order. If the employer has not retained work remuneration for the employee during the time when the employee has been involved in the measures necessary for the enforcement of this Order, however, he or she has incurred expenditures due to the replacement of the employee, the National Armed Forces shall compensate the expenditures related to replacement which, in the relevant period, do not exceed the work remuneration specified in the employment contract of the replaced employee according to the period of replacement.

[3 November 2021]

10.⁵ For members and the chairperson of the board of such medical treatment institution that is a capital company of a public person and a public-private capital company which is actually providing inpatient health care services for medical treatment of COVID-19 patients and for which the workload has significantly increased, it shall be permitted to determine a supplement in the amount of up to 30 % of the monthly wage from 7 December 2021 until 31 December 2021 for work under conditions of increased risk and workload due to the outbreak of COVID-19 infection and elimination of its consequences. The necessity of granting a supplement shall be determined by the holder of capital shares of the relevant medical treatment institution. The Minister for Health shall decide on the use of financing according to the actual necessity, ascertaining that the capital company is actually providing inpatient health care services for medical treatment of COVID-19 patients. The expenditure related to the supplements shall be covered from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events" based on the actually required amount.

[7 December 2021]

11. Administrative offence proceedings for the offences referred to in Sections 21 and 22 of the law On Emergency Situation and State of Exception shall also be conducted by the administrative inspection of the local government, the Consumer Rights Protection Centre, the Food and Veterinary Service, the Health Inspectorate, the State Labour Inspectorate, the State Revenue Service, the State Border Guard, and the State Fire and Rescue Service.

12. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the responsible sectoral ministries shall, according to the competence, inform international organisations, if necessary, in accordance with the procedures laid down in international agreements of disengagement from the international liabilities of Latvia if the fulfilment of such liabilities is not possible during the emergency situation.

13. The measures shall be financed from the State budget resources allocated to the authorities in accordance with the law On the State Budget for 2021, as well as upon a motivated request of the authorities from the State budget programme 02.00.00 "Funds for Unforeseen Events". In such cases, the decision to grant funding shall be taken by the Cabinet.

14. It shall be determined that the State authority specified in Section 3, Paragraph two of the law On Emergency Situation and State of Exception shall be the relevant sectoral ministry which aggregates claims of persons against the State for the damage caused and submits them to the Ministry of Finance.

15. The State Chancellery shall, in accordance with Section 9, Paragraph three of the law On Emergency Situation and State of Exception, notify the Presidium of the Saeima of the decision taken by the Cabinet and shall, in accordance with Paragraph four of the abovementioned Law, inform the public electronic mass media of the decision taken.

16. The decisions referred to in this Order, if they concern an individually undetermined circle of addressees, shall be notified in accordance with the procedures provided for in Section 11 of the Law on Notification.

17. The Ministry of Defence shall be permitted to organise solemn celebration on 11 November 2021 - Lāčplēsis Day and on 18 November 2021 - the Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia for ensuring the broadcasting thereof on television, coordinating the epidemiological safety protocol with the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health.

[11 November 2021]

18. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be permitted to organise the meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of NATO states from 30 November 2021 until 1 December 2021, coordinating the epidemiological safety protocol with the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health.

[11 November 2021]

19. The condition referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.2 of this Order in relation to the term of obtaining of a vaccination or recovery certificate until 15 November 2021, and also the condition referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.3 of this Order regarding the performance of work duties from 15 November 2021, if an employee (official) has a vaccination or recovery certificate, shall not be applied to employees (officials) who have commenced vaccination by 15 November 2021 and have completed the full vaccination course not later than before 15 December 2021 according to the instructions for use of the vaccines or the Vaccination Guidebook published on the website of the State Agency of Medicines. Until obtaining of a vaccination or recovery certificate, an employee (official) may continue performing work duties on site by presenting a test certificate which is not older than 72 hours or a screening antigen test organised by the employer within the last 72 hours. Expenditures which are related to the performance of a test shall be covered by the employee (official) from his or her own funds unless there is another agreement with the employer.

[1 December 2021 / The new wording of Paragraph shall come into force on 6 December 2021. See the introductory part of Paragraph 3 of the amendment]

19.¹ The condition referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.7.¹ of this Order in relation to the term of obtaining of a vaccination or recovery certificate until 15 December 2021 shall not be applied to employees who have completed the full vaccination course until 15 December 2021 according to the instructions for use of the vaccines or the Vaccination Guidebook published on the website of the State Agency of Medicines. Until obtaining of a vaccination or recovery certificate, an employee (official) may continue performing work duties on site by presenting a test certificate which is not older than 72 hours or a screening antigen test organised by the employer within the last 72 hours. Expenditures which are related to the performance of a test shall be covered by the employee (official) from his or her own funds unless there is another agreement with the employer.

[7 December 2021]

20. The provisions referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.14 of this Order in relation to the restriction on the provision of economic services and organising events shall not be applied from 23:00 on 31 December 2021 until 6:00 on 1 January 2022.

[22 December 2021]

21. The condition referred to in Sub-paragraph 5.2 of this Order in relation to those employees (officials) to whom the deadline for suspension from the performance of work (office, service) duties sets in before the end of the declared emergency situation may be extended until 28 February 2022.

[10 February2022]

22. Until 28 February 2022, a person who, in accordance with the instructions for the use of the vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency or an equivalent regulator or recognised by the World Health Organisation, has been vaccinated with the number of doses appropriate for a full vaccination course with the specific vaccine, and form whom 14 days have passed after completion of the full vaccination course, and also a person whose infection with SARS-CoV-2 has been confirmed by an RNA test and who has been vaccinated with one dose of a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or an equivalent regulator or recognised by the World Health Organisation, and for whom 14 days have passed since the day of vaccination, or a person who has been vaccinated with mixed doses of the vaccines referred to in this Paragraph in accordance with the COVID-19 vaccination guidebook published on the website of the State Agency of Medicines and for whom 14 days have passed since the completion of the vaccination course shall be regarded as fully vaccinated persons.

[11 February 2022]

23. The State and local government authorities shall be allowed to organise public events outdoors in epidemiologically unsafe environment for up to 3000 persons by agreeing on the epidemiological safety protocol with the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health.

[24 February 2022]

Prime Minister A. K. Kariņš

Minister for Health D. Pavļuts

Translation © 2022 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)