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President G. Nausėda met with NVSC Director Robertas Petraitis, Vilnius Department Head Rolanda Lingiene, Santara Clinics Center for Family Medicine Head Vytautas Kasiulevičius, and Professor Mindaugas Stankūnas, School of Public Health , Lithuanian University of Health Sciences.
Watch the post-meeting press conference here:
here at 12 noon:
The president assured that the NVSC has many problems and that they are mainly related to the lack of positions and funds for salaries, and then the loss of good specialists.
“We need to address this problem not by praying with our tongues, but by actually planning for 2021. budget.” Some things can be done this year, but looking ahead, it is certainly not enough to provide an additional million or several hundred thousand, which they will be used only to pay debts and will not have any significant impact, “he said.
The president estimated that NVSC would need an additional $ 4 million. euros. This requires a “political agreement”.
The President considered that it would be worthwhile to bring together a larger team of scientists to make recommendations not only to the authorities but also to the public itself.
In addition, the president stated that not only volunteers but also members of the military could help NVSC epidemiologists in call centers.
“This experience is used, for example, in Spain,” said G. Nausėda.
G.Nausėda: quarantine would now be more expensive
According to the president, the summer was a missed opportunity to properly prepare for the second wave of coronavirus.
“It just came to our attention then. I can’t say that Lithuania is the only one here,” he said, recalling that all of Europe is “red.”
According to the president, Lithuania is still at a point where the problem can be solved without quarantining the entire country.
G.Nausėda predicted that when the number of cases rises to 400, 500 or even 1000, the quarantine may not be avoided, which, in the president’s opinion, would cost the economy more than the spring quarantine.
The president agreed in part with the outgoing head of state, Dalia Grybauskaitė, that the rush to take stricter measures could have been caused by the elections. He expected the newly elected government to make quick and firm decisions.
“The situation is not serious, the situation is very serious,” he said.
Asked how he valued the work of the head of the NVSC, Robertas Petraitis, who had hardly been seen or heard during the entire coronavirus crisis, the president assured that now is not the time to evaluate and hang medals. After the meeting with the president, R. Petraitis did not speak at the press conference. Rolanda Lingienė, head of the NVSC Vilnius department, spoke over and over again.
He assured that the mobilizing leadership demonstrated by the President, who did not come to reproach but to listen and seek solutions together, was very important these days.
“He found out about our miserable wages, huge workloads,” said R. Lienienė.
According to her, the problems are outdated and G. Nausėda’s visit is very motivating.
The head of the Vilnius department of the NVSC noted that it is not yet clear what assistance the government promises to the NVSC. According to her, some 40 employees have already left the NVSC. They complained about low salaries, high responsibilities and huge workloads.
“It is no secret that on weekends and other people get information about the cases. Nothing strange if we get it at 1 pm at 1:30 pm, ”he said.
According to R. Lingienė, 15 epidemiologists work in the Vilnius department on weekdays, 8 people work on weekends. In total, between 60 and 70 people in Lithuania carry out epidemiological investigations.
Vytautas Kasiulevičius, a professor at Vilnius University, said there is no doubt that the number of coronavirus cases will increase.
“We believe that it is necessary to implement certain specific controls. Those actions are paying off, ”he said, citing the example of Great Britain, where the restrictions are bringing together more than 6 people.
When asked if the government’s decisions were delayed, V. Kasulevičius assured that some decisions work, but he does not know if they will be sustainable in the long term.
“I am not talking about quarantine, but measures are needed,” he stressed.
According to V.Kasiulevičius, the traceability of cases is very important, which is why it is necessary to strengthen the NVSC.
According to the teacher, the decision now being considered to extend school holidays by one week may have a temporary effect, but the problems will not be solved in principle.
Professor Mindaugas Stankūnas, from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, said he did not want to deal with the forecasts, but he does not see any reason why the infection curve should decrease. He gave the example of New Zealand, where a major crisis was averted supposedly due to very loud listening from scientists.
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G. Nausėda offers to mediate, to form a group
G. Nausėda came to the NVSC after the Association of Young Doctors and the Union of Health Workers of Lithuania on Monday addressed President Gitana Nausėda, the Government and the Ministry of Health, asking for decisive and scientific decisions on the situation in COVID-19 without waiting for the elections.
“We urge the authorities to make decisive and systematic decisions based on scientific evidence and good practices from other countries now, without waiting for the Seimas elections, and to encourage our Head of State to assume the much-needed leadership in this difficult political period,” said the Young Doctors Association. and the Lithuanian Health Workers Union.
If anyone has the opinion that there are five professionals and six opinions, then I disagree.
In evaluating this statement, the President assured that all statements made from the heart are important. He agreed that the recommendations of specialists in power are not always listened to. The President also offered his help to mediate between the specialists and the Government, and perhaps even to establish a group of specialists under the Presidency.
“If someone thinks that there are five professionals and six opinions, I would still think that it is the wrong opinion. It is really possible to access common denominators, common recommendations, ”he said.
Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga described the address as interesting. According to him, it is not clear what is meant by leadership. Investigators are said to be listening and consulting with the government.
Over the weekend, the NVSC acknowledged its inability to conduct high-quality epidemiological investigations in the Vilnius region. With the resources available, the NVSC can investigate 50 cases and on Saturday twice as many new cases were detected per day in Vilnius County.
Health Minister A. Veryga stated that more funds will be allocated to the NVSC, and also hoped that volunteers, seniors, and public health specialists could help the NVSC.
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