Lithuania is looking for culprits due to poor Covid-19 prevalence statistics / Article / LSM.lv

New restrictions on Covid-19 will take effect in Lithuania on Wednesday, December 9. Officials have been forced to conclude that the current four-week quarantine has failed to reduce the level of infection. The fight with Covid-19 is taking place at the same time as the change of government, when a new strategy is promised. Opinions differ on whether the outgoing government or society is to blame for the poor statistics.

Prevalence of Covid-19 Lithuania currently ranks our southern neighbors in the list of eight worst affected countries around the world. But in the European Union, the average number of 2,300 cases detected per day, or more than 80 cases per one hundred thousand in Lithuania, is the third worst result after Croatia and small Liechtenstein. For comparison: in Latvia this figure is 37, but in Estonia – 35.

In addition, quarantine or emergency statistics are bleak. In the four weeks that the strictest restrictions have been imposed so far, three-quarters of all illnesses and deaths have been reported this year.

Thus, realizing that the current restrictions do not work, the outgoing Lithuanian government has adopted one of the most recent decisions to introduce even stricter restrictions. In fact, the government has made it clear that it is the people who are to blame for the second wave of the second wave in the autumn.

“I would like to hope that we still live in a country where people not only listen to the police and punishment, but also understand for themselves that they are responsible for the seriousness of this situation and whether it will be controlled.

I would like to expect the same level of awareness as during the spring quarantine, when the spread of the disease was very effectively controlled, ”said Lithuanian Minister of Health Aurelijs Veriga.

Also in the spring, Covid-19 hit Lithuania the hardest. Then, for the first time, even some cities were closed when there were concerns about the lack of doctors due to high incidence of infections, for example, in the city of Ukmergė.

Now, epidemiologists have wondered which of the restrictions will be the ones that will not only be determined, but also observed. In turn, officials and health care workers’ representatives continue to emotionally appeal to the people’s concerns about their own health and the health of their fellow human beings as they prepare for Christmas.

“Do you want to be a part of these records? Want to break a new record? Want to be a part of these terrible statistics? Want to wait for a bed and an oxygen cylinder in resuscitation? Do you want to be connected to a lung ventilator? Well then, please attend all the events! But if you have common sense and a sense of responsibility for yourself, your family, your children and society as a whole, stay home! ” emphasized Klaipeda Mayor Vytautas Grubiļauskas.

“All doctors work in very difficult, extreme and catastrophic conditions. There is tremendous psychological stress and physical fatigue when admitting seriously ill patients. They smell off, they need help. Therefore, I would like to call on everyone – please follow the set recommendations, ”urged Narimants Markēvičius, the director of Vilnius Central Hospital.

Currently, the emergency situation in Lithuania has been extended until the end of the year, with the entry into force of new restrictions. For example, shopping malls are allowed to work with one-fifth of the usual number of visitors, providing 30 square meters of space for each visitor. Only two households can meet, no more than ten people in total.

At the same time, the situation has created political tensions in the country.

The outgoing prime minister and health minister ignored an extraordinary meeting convened by President Gitan Nauseda last Sunday, calling it a “show.” But the new prime minister, Ingrida Simonite, whose government was approved this week, has sharply criticized the restrictions imposed by her predecessors as insufficient. She has now promised to take “all the necessary decisions” to prevent the health system from collapsing by Christmas.

The President also urges: “Every additional death is the result of our inability to act. It cannot be forgiven, and there is no justification for our actions. “

Nausäda also agreed with the outgoing government’s criticism: “Many of the experts’ recommendations have been implemented, but in other respects the restrictions could have been tighter and quicker to bear in mind. very quick and decisive decisions will follow. “

Marjus Čurļonis, Adviser to the Lithuanian Ministry of Health, also explains the negative trend for Latvian Television by the insufficient observance of the current restrictions in society: “People’s mobility is still very high. While there are many restrictions and recommendations from the Ministry of Health – on staying home, working remotely and not meeting others unnecessarily – what we see is a lot of social contact and social bubbles.

Currently, the main source of infection is families and relatives. We are also seeing a number of outbreaks in manufacturing companies and among doctors. ”

CONTEXT:

About the new coronavirus spread China informed the World Health Organization (WHO) late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, home to 11 million people. WHO in March 2020 announcedthat Covid-19 has reached the level of a global pandemic.

A few months later, in the summer, there was a reduction in the spread of the infection in Europe, which led to the lifting of a series of strict restrictions. However, in mid-September WHO warnedthat Europe will face an increase in Covid-19 coronavirus deaths in the autumn months.

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