Latvia allocates 47 million euros for Covid-19 relief

The Latvian government has decided to allocate 47 million euros to cover the costs of sick pay for individuals affected by COVID-19. The decision, announced Tuesday, will be managed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. The measure establishes that sick pay will be provided to individuals who contracted COVID-19 or were under home quarantine from January 17th to February 28th of this year.

Eligibility includes those with a valid vaccination certificate, a history of COVID-19, or those who have deferred COVID-19 vaccination and have a sick leave certificate or been placed under home quarantine. Statistics from the State Social Insurance Board indicate that 47,052,034 euros in sick pay was disbursed from January 17th to February 28th of this year, a record-breaking sum. Prior to this, payments ranged from 653,475 euros from November 16, 2020, to June 30, 2021; 1.15 million euros from November 6, 2021, to November 30, 2021; and 3.9 million euros from December 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021.

The Ministry highlighted a significant increase in COVID-19 sick pay costs over the first four months of 2022, noting a considerable risk of underfunding these expenditures. The regulation includes a 260,130 euro allocation from the Ministry’s financial resources for covering sick pay costs incurred between December 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, drawn from the “Unforeseen Expenditure Coverage” program, which will be reallocated from the state budget to the “Disability, Maternity and Illness” special fund.

Topics: #covid #miljonit #eurot