Saulius Čaplinskas: I do not support the proposals to maintain the quarantine until April



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Such a proposal was presented on Saturday by the doctor, professor of medicine Vytautas Kasiulevičius.

“Today we have only one effective measure: the restrictions, they work, and those restrictions are necessary for our country not until January 31, but at least until mid-April, when the UV index and air temperature will begin to stop the spread of infection. Finally, the most vulnerable will be vaccinated in mid-April. And even then it will be possible to talk about liberation, “wrote V. Kasiulevičius on his Facebook account on Saturday.

According to him, by loosening the restrictions, we get a new jump in diseases.

“And new strains of the virus are spreading even faster, so more effort is needed to control their spread. We restrict our movement, spend less time in meetings, fewer illnesses, fewer excessive deaths, and at the same time avoid overloading. the healthcare system even with new strains of viruses prevailing. This is also shown by data from the UK and Ireland: governments have taken action again, movement of people to meeting places has decreased, the situation is beginning to stabilize ”Wrote the professor.

On Sunday, S. Čaplinskas expressed disapproval of continuing the quarantine until April on Facebook.

Saulius Čaplinskas

Saulius Čaplinskas

© DELFI / Domantas Pipas

“I DO NOT AGREE with the proposals to maintain the quarantine in public until April,” he wrote, stating his arguments:

* I don’t see any real basis for movement restrictions between municipalities at this time.

* In my opinion, kindergarten activities should be resumed as soon as possible. In which I propose the immediate application of continuous preventive tests of the staff and only when a positive case is identified should a temporary quarantine be decided for the group and not for the entire nursery.

* I also propose to update the functioning of elementary schools by applying similar preventive tests.

* There is no longer any reason to keep a small business closed. They can be opened, especially those that can ensure compliance with the necessary security requirements (for example, beauty salons, small shops, etc.).

* The future is a “new reality” that requires new tools to adapt, and there is an urgent need to develop and launch a state-funded preventive testing program.

This program will be a key tool in the management of coronavirus infection in all countries, including through vaccination (instead of quarantine).

* However, there is a lack of communication from the public with the expert assessment of the actual situation, so it would be wise to start preparing regular national risk assessment reports and make them available to the public, not just numbers, tables and graphs without expert conclusions and recommendations.

These risk assessment reports from Scandinavian et al. countries are prepared by national institutes of public health. In Lithuania, the preparer of such reports could be the institution under the Ministry of Health, the Institute of Hygiene, which houses the Center for Public Health Research, or the Institute of Public Health of Vilnius University.

Delfi recalls that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė declared on Wednesday after the government meeting that after January 31, when the strict quarantine was announced, it will not be true that all restrictions will expire.

“It certainly won’t be like that, I can say today that on January 31, all restrictions will simply expire. Maybe it’s part of the restrictions. At whatever pace and at what stages, we will still have to discuss it, ”said the Prime Minister.

He argued that everything must be judged by the epidemiological situation. The head of government claimed that the disturbing mutant strain of coronavirus in other countries.

“The main question is under what conditions (the quarantine would work, aut. P.). This does not mean that all the restrictions will necessarily be maintained. But first we will be attentive to the situation. And although there are days when the figures seem much better, the overall trend so far looks positive. The question is whether it is fast enough, “said the prime minister.

He said there were two challenges at the moment: the need to “get off a pretty high mountain” and second, mutations were spreading at the same time, which could increase the number of new cases very quickly.

I. Šimonytė stated that next week the government will consult with experts on possible decisions. Current restrictions on movement between municipalities promise to be reviewed on January 17.

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