Latvian PM in self quarantine after MP tests positive for COVID-19

RIGA - Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins went into self quarantine on Saturday and will be tested for COVID-19 after a lawmaker was diagnosed with the coronavirus, local media reported.

"I and the staff of my office who have been identified as contacts are in self quarantine starting today, and we will also give our samples," Karins said on Twitter.

The prime minister and his office will continue to work remotely.

Karins called on everyone to be responsible and help prevent COVID-19 from spreading. "This is our state, these are our people whom we can protect with our actions!" Karins tweeted.

Earlier on Saturday, the Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control reported that MP Artuss Kaimins has contracted COVID-19 and that all his contacts are now being investigated. It was not immediately clear how the lawmaker caught the infection.

Jurijs Perevoscikovs, an official at the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, indicated that all those who have had close contacts with Kaimins will now have to spend 14 days in quarantine, which means that many members of the government and parliament are likely to be quarantined.