RIGA, Dec 16 (LETA) - We are currently witnessing a short-term stabilization of Covid-19 incidence, however, infection rates continue to rise over a two-week period, Jurijs Perevoscikovs, director of the Infectious Diseases Risk Analysis and Prevention Department at the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), told reporters.

According to him, the proportion of positive tests has also slightly decreased, but the number of tests conducted is remains high.

At the same time, the incidence of Covid-19 in children under 14 years of age and in people over 50 years of age has also decreased. A decline in infections has been observed in Riga and Pieriga, while there has not been an increase in the number of municipalities where the infection rate is particularly high, the epidemiologist revealed.

However, the number of new daily cases is still considered by the epidemiologist to be very high. "On average, doctors deal with 624 new cases a day - a huge number of patients who need to be treated," Perevoscikovs said.

He also pointed out that there are usually around 15,000 contact persons under the active supervision of the CDC, which the expert estimates is a very large number of people, and in each case there is a possibility that the contact person may become ill.

Also, half of all infected people are over 50 years of age, ie in the age group where patients are most likely to have more severe virus symptoms.

The CDC expert still observes that there is a "hidden spread of the infection in the community" or that almost half of all detected cases cannot find a specific source of infection.

The epidemiologist also reminded that there is still a significant increase in the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients. According to him, the increase in the number of hospitalized patients is 35 percent. "More than 90 patients are hospitalized every day, which means that the workload of hospitals is increasing," the expert added.

At the same time, Perevoscikovs revealed that currently an average of ten Covid-19 patients die every day, while Latvia's infection rate has already exceeded the European Union average.

According to the expert, the current epidemiological situation is not favorable - and it has the potential to deteriorate. "We also don't have collective immunity, so there is no hope that the disease will go away on its own. We need to control the virus, not let the virus control us," the epidemiologist said.