Latvia to impose nearly monthlong lockdown as COVID spreads

HELSINKI (AP) — Latvia will enter into a nearly monthlong lockdown, including curfew, on Thursday due to the worsening coronavirus situation in the Baltic country where the vaccination rate is among the lowest in the European Union. The prime minister said late Monday that the lockdown from Oct. 21 until Nov. 15 and accompanying drastic measures are needed as the pandemic continues to spread in Latvia, causing hospital wards to fill up with COVID-19 patients amid scarce health care resources. Only slightly over half of Latvians are now fully vaccinated, and the prime minister admitted that his government had failed sufficiently to lure citizens to have vaccinations.