Šimonytė: The government will not yet consider opening shops and beauty salons

“Today we will not consider specific solutions, several appeals have been attached to the meeting material, but we certainly will not consider those appeals today, because the appeals are related to changes in the requirements of specific areas of activity and it is a separate discussion,” announced I Šimonytė at the beginning of the meeting.

“We see that the dynamics and that dynamics is positive, now the question is how not to spoil the dynamics,” said Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

Ramunė Kalėdienė, dean of the government expert council and dean of the Faculty of Public Health of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, stated that despite the improvement in the situation, Lithuania is still in scenario “D” , which is the worst. However, in preparation for milder quarantine scenarios, it is also necessary to plan for easing restrictions for companies.

“But it requires a very clear testing strategy,” warned R. Kalėdienė. According to her, the priority to reduce restrictions is education.

The Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė stated that the resumption of activities in certain sectors is being considered, but would like to know the conclusion of the experts.

“We are thinking about it in the Ministry of Economy, but I would like the word of experts. I heard some skepticism like that. When do you think it is possible to start releasing the quarantine, given that we are both vaccinating and will start testing? Because the scope of the tests will have to go hand in hand with the liberalization of sectors ”, asked A. Armonaitė.

“Due to the launch, many simulations have been done around the world. One of the closest to us is Germany, made in summer, which analyzed the spring wave. And it shows that the renewal of social contacts increases from 108 to 150 percent. number of new cases. Another in terms of impact is the opening of educational institutions, ranging from 34 to 46 percent. More retail, here the figures range between 24 and 33 percent. new cases, then small businesses from 14 to 18 percent. This should take this into account.

Regarding the effects of vaccination, it begins to be observed above 20%. (…) To counteract the effects of liberalization, we should reach at least 700,000. vaccination of the population, ”replied Vytautas Kasiulevičius, professor of medicine at Vilnius University.

Professor Laimonas Griškevičius, head of the personal health care institutions group, added that the start of quarantine releases should be in early March.

At the end of the meeting, I. Šimonytė added that two talks are expected to be organized this week between the responsible ministries, the expert council and associated structures. One would be related to the resumption of educational activities and the other to economic activities and the release of quarantine restrictions on companies.

Employers ask for softer, one-size-fits-all measurements

The Lithuanian Employers’ Confederation appealed to the government stating that “different and unequal conditions of competition” apply in Lithuania after the government renewed quarantine restrictions on 16 December.

“Please address the pandemic situation with proportionate and uniform measures to limit economic conditions,” the confederation said.

The letter indicates that the prohibition imposed on the stores exempted the sale of food, veterinary medicine, animal feed, pharmaceutical products, optical and orthopedic technical devices.

“Due to the restrictions imposed by the Government’s resolution, an important part of the business has been ‘overboard’, since the biggest beneficiaries are currently the stores (companies) whose main activity is food retail, but an important part of them also sells other goods “, said Danuko, president of the Confederation. In a letter signed by Arlauskas.

It is noted that sellers of small and large household appliances, household items could not trade during the festive and sales period, during which the largest sales are made, at that time ordinary stores also sell such items.

The Confederation considers that the situation has changed significantly and that new severe restrictions “inevitably continue to create different conditions of competition and push many companies out of the market” and that the continued application of restrictions is “an unreasonable state approach to companies and profits. state “. .

The Lithuanian Employers’ Confederation maintains that creating unequal competitive conditions violates the Constitution and that the additional benefits of restrictions as a pandemic management tool are questionable. Allow other stores “to help divide the flow of people, thus reducing the number of contacts.”

Businesses share caveats that the state will collect less taxes, may have to lay off workers, and need less support.

Beauticians want to start operating on February 1

The association representing Lithuanian estheticians and cosmetologists asks to evaluate the possibilities of renewing their services from February 1.

According to data from the Department of Statistics, the index of the number of people working in the beauty salon business decreased from 114.4 to 111.8 points in the third quarter compared to the same period of the previous year. It is feared that this reflects rising unemployment in the sector and a growing tax burden on the state.

“The specificity of the work of a beauty specialist does not provide the opportunity to quickly redirect towards other possible activities, since a long retraining procedure is necessary, so that during the quarantine the beauty specialists lost the only source of income”, the Lithuanian Association of Cosmetologists and Cosmetologists said in a letter.

The association points out that most service providers work with certificates of individual activity and rental jobs, so if there is a loss of income, there is a real risk of losing the premises of the self-employed; not all landlords can agree to a rental deferral.

“The payment of 275 euros, which is not available to all service providers, is not enough to cover losses and needs, so a small beauty services company that does not have a secure long-term financial reserve runs the real danger of not surviving a longer quarantine. “

It is argued that more attention is required only in facial care services, while other services could be provided with protective equipment in separate, well-ventilated rooms where there would be two people at the time of providing the service: a specialist and a client.

“During the pandemic, the association has not received reports of infections in beauty companies. We understand the seriousness of the situation caused by the pandemic, but we also pay attention to the economic and psychosocial crisis, which is especially felt among small companies” said the association, asking to evaluate the possibility of resuming operations on or before February 1.

The second quarantine in Lithuania is valid from the beginning of November. By decision of the previous government of Saulius Skvernelis, cafes, bars and restaurants, sports clubs, cinemas, spectators at sporting events were banned, and lessons in schools were restricted.

In mid-December, the I. Šimonytė government tightened the quarantine, ordered the closure of non-food stores and most service providers, prohibited them from leaving the municipality and communicating with more than one household without good reason , and extended distance education for students.