The number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in Latvia increased to 244 on March 26.

A further 23 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed on Latvian territory, raising the total number of cases from 221 on Wednesday to 244 on Thursday.

The new figure was released by the Disease Prevention and Control Center (SPKC) which said 817 tests had been conducted during the previous 24-hour period.

Saņemti laboratorisko izmeklējumu rezultāti no Nacionālās references laboratorijas un E.Gulbja laboratorijas: iepriekšējā diennaktī veikti 817 izmeklējumi personām ar aizdomām par saslimšanu ar Covid19, infekcija apstiprināta 23 cilvēkiem. LV apstiprināti 244 saslimšanas gadījumi — SPKC.gov.lv (@SPKCentrs) March 26, 2020

Later in the day the SPKC also updated its graphics depicting data relating to the disease.

Informācija par COVID-19 saslimšanas gadījumiem Latvijā



Interaktīvu karti var aplūkot šeit 👉 https://t.co/5vGSDjkgLs pic.twitter.com/uCvHZtw0bx — SPKC.gov.lv (@SPKCentrs) March 26, 2020

Meanwhile the Latvian government has unveiled a new website intended to serve as a reference point for all coronavirus-related questions and queries.

"To help citizens find answers to their questions about the Covid-19 outbreak and its impact in various areas, the State Chancellery is creating a website at covid19.gov.lv . This site will collect information from the responsible authorities' websites, plus statistics as well as frequently asked questions and answers," the government announced.

The first phase of the website was completed on March 25, and lists all the important phone numbers the public can call call to ask questions about symptoms, prevention, consumer rights, education, border crossings and other issues. Information is available in Latvian and Russian.

Photo: Cabinet of Ministers Latvian government official coronavirus information site

The development of the site will continue with more features added in future, the government said.

Answers to questions regarding Covid-19 and the resulting state of emergency can also be obtained from the single hotline number 8345. Calls to this number are free of charge and questions can be asked in both Latvian and Russian.