RIGA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The coronavirus pandemic, which struck Latvia exactly one year ago, has claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people in this Baltic country, according to official figures provided by the Latvian Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Latvia confirmed its first COVID-19 infection case on March 2, 2020. The first person to test positive for the novel coronavirus in Latvia was a woman who had returned from a trip to Italy, which at that time was grappling with an extensive COVID-19 outbreak.

Since then, the virus has been found in 87,103 people in Latvia, or roughly 4.5 percent of the population.

Latvia weathered the first COVID-19 wave quite successfully, boasting one of the lowest infection rates in Europe in the summer of 2020.

However, a second upsurge of COVID-19 infections hit Latvia in the fall, nearly overwhelming its health system. In the second wave, infections peaked in January, shortly after the winter holidays, but since February, new cases have been gradually declining.

Still, Latvia's cumulative 14-day COVID-19 incidence rate remains high, only slightly below 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, which is well above the European Union's average. Meanwhile, health authorities are warning of a possible third wave.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 256 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 74 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Feb. 26. Enditem

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