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Wait for the doctor’s decision
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said in Seimas on Thursday that the quarantine regime will be abandoned when doctors recommend it and politicians do not decide.
“It just came to our attention then. If it were up to us, we might agree, decide we might as well finish it now, it might have been unpublished or published later, or not canceled for some time. That’s when the epidemiologists for doctors will name the Clear criteria according to which these legal measures have been presented, which are related to the spread and control of the disease, and we will do so immediately.
The government plans to decide next week on a quarantine extension, perhaps that criterion, and could be included in a government resolution if a very clear conclusion has been given to those professionals who can advise what to do. Because we can make any political decision, but the consequences depend on it, the consequences for the health and life of our society, “said S. Skvernelis in the government’s half hour in Seimas on Thursday.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Saulius Skvernelis
Arrivals must be isolated
G. Megelinskienė says that the lawyers’ conclusions are also important in this case, mainly due to the forced isolation of people returning from abroad. If, after removing the quarantine, there are no other means to isolate them, this will become a problem.
“As long as I present imported cases and they are still very widespread, I think it is quite relevant,” said G. Megelinskienė.
The NVSC representative also spoke about the importance of epidemiological criteria, which will have the greatest impact on decisions about further extension or revocation of quarantine.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Ginreta Megelinskienė
Hospital loads will also be evaluated.
“There are epidemiological indicators to evaluate the management of the situation. We see two weeks of illness. There were 149 cases in two weeks, which is almost 9 percent. COVID-19 disease of all diseases in Lithuania, “explained G. Megelinskienė.
There are many components to assess whether to continue quarantine or not. This decision will definitely be coordinated with experts and will not be reckless, – said G. Megelinskienė.
In addition, according to her, it is necessary to evaluate the epidemic curve of the cases: the distribution according to the possible moment of the disease.
“It is important to observe the number of hospitalized cases and the workload in health centers. There are many components to assess whether to continue quarantine or not. If this decision is made, it will be coordinated with experts and there will be an unclear and ill-considered decision for the public, “said the NVSC representative.
Recently, according to G. Megelinskienė, it is quite good to track the spread of the virus, most of which are related to hot spots in healthcare institutions.
To be decided by NVSC, not by other doctors
Professor Vytautas Kasiulevičius says that at least no one has heard his own opinion, and that decisions about the extension or termination of quarantine are likely to be made by specialists working in institutions under the Ministry of Health, such as the NVSC.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Vytautas Kasiulevičius
“I think they should take into account the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), which have many different criteria, one of which is the indicator of infectivity. The size of the infectivity rate should be less than one and be so that we can make decisions for at least two weeks to reduce one or the other of the control measures.
Quarantine itself is the form chosen by each country: quarantine in Lithuania, emergency in other countries, etc. Its termination or other action is simply a political decision. As physicians, we understand very clearly that the intensive increase in the number of contacts increases the risk of infection, the decrease in contacts decreases, “said Prof. V.Kasiulevičius.
According to him, it is unknown if there will be many new cases in the summer, because it is not known what effect the increase in humidity will have on the spread of the virus.
As doctors, we understand very clearly that the intensive increase in the number of contacts increases the risk of infection, the decrease in contacts decreases, – said V. Kasiulevičius.
“We believe the humidity is 60-70 percent. It should reduce, contribute to a significant reduction in cases. We also don’t know the effect of temperature, we just think that a temperature of about 20 degrees already has some effect in reducing development But since this is a new virus for us, there can be all kinds of cases, so we can’t say for sure that there will be more of those cases now, probably in the fall.
“If it is necessary to continue the quarantine during the summer, I do not think it is necessary to do so, but the NVSC has to decide,” said the professor.
The increase could have been predicted
Last week, there were only 4-6 cases of infection per day, but this number increased again to 16 (May 20). V.Kasiulevičius says he is not surprised. Many of them are in focal healthcare institutions.
“Health institutions are not isolated from the whole world, if we mitigate the situation in the country, it is clear that there will be an increase in these cases. It is probable that, as predicted, there will be a two or three times increase in those cases.
The question is whether they will increase so much that we will have to reinitiate some significant restrictions: here are decisions that do not depend only on the doctors. It depends largely on politicians, economists, on how much the country can tolerate the economic downturn. This is not a question for me, “said the professor.
According to V. Kasiulevičius, the decisions of the Government must depend on the specialists who work in the SAM institutions. And the opinions expressed by other doctors can be taken into account or not.
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