RIGA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- An extensive spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in Latvia has started affecting the operations of enterprises and institutions whose staff are falling ill with COVID-19 in large numbers, local media reported.
National postal service Latvijas Pasts said Friday that its mail delivery capacity has been seriously impaired by the absence of more than 200 employees.
The postal company said that the employees, recovering from COVID-19 or self-isolating after contact with infected persons, include people performing various jobs at the company. The highest number of infections, it said, has been recorded among postmen and post-office workers.
Provisions of postal services and mail deliveries are disrupted across Latvia, but the situation is especially difficult in the capital city Riga and surrounding municipalities where COVID-19 incidence is much higher than in the rest of Latvia.
To cope with the problem, Latvijas Pasts is shortening the working hours of its post offices from Feb. 7 and is replacing the infected postmen with managerial staff. If needed, some post-offices can be temporarily closed, it said.
The Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reported 10,137 new COVID-19 cases in Latvia on Friday.
This is the second highest number of daily cases ever confirmed in Latvia. On Feb. 2, the CDC reported 10,610 new cases. ■