11-point pandemic management plan presented: proposes to abandon universal quarantine

As O. Leiputė, vice president of the faction, said during the press conference, the Social Democrats sent an 11-point plan for the management of the pandemic to the Prime Minister and Minister A. Dulkis.

“The statistics that we all hear, that deaths are incorrectly calculated, infections are incorrectly recorded, they do not allow the Government to normally predict what appropriate measures should be applied,” said O. Leiputė.

For his part, the deputy of the Seimas Eugenijus Sabutis affirmed that more powers should be granted to the municipalities.

“When municipalities (…) work together, the management and application of various measures becomes more efficient and convenient, especially in a smaller area,” said the parliamentarian.

According to E. Sabutis, the same restrictions cannot be applied to all municipalities. Although he is pleased that the Prime Minister is constantly talking to the representatives of the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities, according to him, concrete action is necessary.

“Self-government must be heard and its demands must be heard,” emphasized E. Sabutis.

O. Leiputė pointed out that the population is experiencing many difficulties due to the restrictions introduced, therefore, in his opinion, municipalities with a better epidemiological situation should be able to relax some quarantine measures.

“There was a lack of trust in people, both people who work in municipalities and doctors, in the spring, even now it is not enough. Apparently, one of the results is the bad indicators,” said the former Minister of Health , Gediminas Černiauskas.

He said managing a pandemic should not be viewed in a primitive way, only through the prism of bans and permits. According to G. Černiauskas, in the current situation it is necessary to work actively and exhaustively and carry out more in-depth analyzes on various issues.

Deputy Sabutis also drew attention to the difficulties faced by companies, which cause complex problems.

“Neither during the first nor during this quarantine did the central government even try to think about being able to sit down with the municipality and think that in each municipality the businesses are one or another. In small municipalities, companies are small. (…) Certainly solutions could be found, let’s say that the municipality assumed responsibility for managing the issue itself: it could decide for itself what, to what extent and to what extent it could be opened. That the municipality should handle the issues in their place, and not just follow the instructions, “said the politician.

G. Černiauskas asked the Government to understand that the pandemic will continue, therefore, according to him, it is necessary to plan the management of the epidemic for next year.

“Currently, the Government is considering a plan for the implementation of its program, there is almost nothing about the pandemic. I would like the government to be able to coordinate today’s work, to do it in a more rational way, but also to look ahead a bit, ”said the former Minister of Health.

After presenting the main proposals of the LSDP faction, the vice president of the faction O. Leiputė expressed the hope that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health will evaluate them.

“The common goal of all of us is to handle the pandemic as quickly as possible, to learn to live in different conditions and to allow people to regain their quality of life. The strict quarantine time is really too long and no longer gives a result that can be useful to people, ”added O. Leiputė.

He presented an 11 point plan

According to the appeal of the LSDP faction to the Government, a quarantine regime lasting more than 3-4 weeks does not increase the effectiveness of the fight against the spread of the pandemic.

“It should also be noted that coronaviruses have seasonal activity and, as their peak activity increases in December, January and February, it begins to decline not only due to global quarantine restrictions, but also due to low tide. season that begins with this virus. Therefore, the disproportionate limitations in the economic, social and pedagogical process lead to potentially greater losses due to its disproportionate application than the desired objective of curbing the threats of a pandemic, “the letter reads.

The appeal indicates that the Government had to apply more flexible and effective measures for the regulation of concentration points, biosecurity measures in the contaminated environment, traceability measures, registration and isolation of sick people.

“These measures had to be targeted at specific outbreaks in specific sites and municipalities based on epidemiological data from specific sites or areas. For this, detailed action plans had to be prepared, human resources had been accumulated and action coordination teams had been formed that were able to apply scientifically-based recommendations in practice, ”the document reads.

Social Democrats say a clear and informative communication strategy is lacking during the pandemic, in addition to criticizing the government’s mistrust in municipalities.

The group presented an 11-point plan that proposed further management of the pandemic:

1. Grant the right to each municipality, taking into account the scenarios and recommendations of the WHO (including the epidemiological indicators of the municipality) to decide independently on the application of specific measures;

2. Urgently develop a national testing strategy at the national level using rapid antigen tests;

3. Accelerate and expand the application of the antibody testing program, which would allow a more precise identification of the number of people who have already been infected and who have acquired immunity;

4. Publish a clear communication strategy and information campaign plans both on the progress of vaccination and on the need to continue complying with biosafety requirements, taking into account the dynamics of the country’s epidemiological indicators;

5. After analyzing all the outbreaks that have existed in Lithuania so far, provide information on those areas of the public and private sector where the outbreaks were most frequent and, based on this, provide possible forecasts of new risks for the outbreaks and its management characteristics;

6. Using the EC guidelines on viral genome sequencing, urgently join the European Center for Communicable Diseases (ECDC) virus genome sequencing program so that Lithuania, together with other countries, reaches 5% as soon as possible. the population index of the tested persons used for genome sequencing;

7. Expedite the vaccination program, utilize ECDC’s electronic vaccine reservation system, in an effort to increase the order of doses of existing and newly authorized vaccines required by our people;

8. In accordance with all companies and industries, establish an IT platform to introduce an anonymized QR (rapid response) system that can facilitate contact tracing when there is a high risk of infection;

9. Enter into an agreement with the associated commercial, industrial and union structures on the division of responsibilities for the management of a pandemic, establish the mandatory compliance with biosafety measures by each entity in the labor market and establish responsibility for non-compliance of said obligations;

10. Make the decision as soon as possible to return the children to schools and kindergartens by allocating additional financial resources for the acquisition of biosecurity measures, ensuring sanitary and hygienic conditions and the application of social security standards in those institutions.

11. Provide the Seimas during the spring session with information on the effectiveness of the universal quarantine measures applied, their consequences for human health (both mental and physical), household income, preservation of employment, dynamics of domestic violence and others indicators. Present to the Seimas and the plans envisaged for granting financial support to families.