The number of confirmed case of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus increased to 197 on March 24.

A further 17 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Latvian territory, raising the total number of cases from 180 on Monday to 197 on Tuesday.

Iepriekšējā diennaktī veikti 692 izmeklējumi personām ar aizdomām par saslimšanu ar Covid-19, infekcija apstiprināta 17 cilvēkam. Līdz šim Latvijā kopā veikti 6806 izmeklējumi pesonām ar aizdomām par Covid-19, apstiptināti 197 saslimšanas gadījumi ar COVID-19. — SPKC.gov.lv (@SPKCentrs) March 24, 2020

The new figure was released by the Disease Prevention and Control Center (SPKC) which said that of 692 tests during the previous 24-hour period, 17 were positive.

In total 6,806 tests have been carried out since February 29.

It should be noted that so far no fatalities as a result of COVID-19 have been reported in Latvia.

Informācija par COVID-19 saslimšanas gadījumiem Latvijā pic.twitter.com/uLz9M4phas — SPKC.gov.lv (@SPKCentrs) March 24, 2020

The table below shows the daily totals relating to COVID-19 in Latvia with the columns representing (from left to right) Date; Total number of tests; Daily number of tests; Total number of infections; Daily number of infections.

On March 23 the SPKC reminded the public that it is not possible to treat the coronavirus with antibiotics and that attempting to do so could seriously impact health. The advice comes as various quacks and charlatans have been offering supposed "cures" online, plus the confusion spread by misguided or confused officials in other countries speculating about wonder drugs.

❗️ATCERIES❗️

Vīrusu izraisītas infekcijas ar antibiotikām neārstē! pic.twitter.com/8BF1JMXf6C — SPKC.gov.lv (@SPKCentrs) March 23, 2020

In neighboring Estonia, the total number of COVID-19 cases on Tuesday morning rose to 369, with four patients reported to be in a critical condition by ERR News, which also reports on the introduction of a "chatbot" in Estonian and English to help answer questions from the public about the coronavirus and the rules introduced to guard against it.

Meanwhile in Lithuania, LRT English reports 179 cases have been confirmed after 39 news cases were detectedon Monday.