The condition for a special quarantine regime in some municipalities is that movement restrictions are maintained.

WEEE will propose to the government to approve the quarantine change plan, the press release said.

“We agreed on a quarantine change plan and approved morbidity indicators, which will guide us in making the right decisions. Each week we will carefully analyze the dynamics of the pandemic in the country and, if we see that the incidence of morbidity from coronavirus will be good, we will make some decisions to lift the restrictions. Changing the quarantine conditions also depends on society itself: the better the situation we have, the sooner we can return to our normal life, ”quoted the press release Agnė Bilotait Minister, Minister of the Interior, Chairman of the WESC Commission. .

The purpose of this plan is to foresee measures to liberalize the quarantine regime in certain areas (for example, households, health care activities, organization of health services, education, non-formal education and training assistance, training activities, restoration, commerce, provision of services, internal movement of people, meetings, cultural activities, sports and entertainment events, regulation of the use of masks, activities of social service institutions, activities of prisons, activities of institutions of registration of foreigners, border control and regulation of the entry of foreigners) taking into account the incidence of COVID-19 infection per 100,000. population for 14 days and the proportion of positive studies of all studies conducted.

“It should be noted that the quarantine change plan differs in that it contemplates the possibility of making releases both at the national level and in terms of municipalities. The plan itself and its change are linked to morbidity rates and a positive part of the tests, must be reviewed weekly, “said the Interior Minister at a press conference.

He argued that the conditions for companies and services would not be liberalized only in individual municipalities, but should be done at the national level.

“If we talk about certain exemptions, such as commerce, services, we have to do it at the national level, not starting with the fact that it will be applied first to the municipalities and then at the national level. This would create certain centers of attraction and cause serious problems ”, said Minister A. Bilotaitė.

Quarantine measures are based on an assessment of the potential risk of spreading the virus due to the increased number of contacts and the mobility of the population. When planning the renewal of activities, it is planned to introduce tests of the employees in the exempt area, as well as an additional provision of flow restriction and hygiene conditions.

Separate conditions for municipalities

The SESC will also propose to the Government to make decisions at two levels of quarantine, national and self-government, when an individual municipality achieves better results than allowing more exemptions at the national level. Once a good performance has been achieved, individual release plans could be considered in some municipalities, but the situation in this municipality will need to be closely monitored: tests, outbreaks and other controls. This proposal must be approved by the Government.

A. Bilotaitė stated that if quarantine is relaxed in separate municipalities, movement restrictions will have to remain in effect.

“This plan makes it clear that we are talking about separate quarantine plans for individual municipalities where the situation is better. But in such a case, there is a condition: in Lithuania, restrictions between municipalities must be ensured at that time, ”said A. Bilotaitė.

The Ministry of Health also proposes to apply contact education in municipalities if morbidity rates are lower than in the country as a whole. This exception would not apply to graduates, in order to ensure a level playing field for exams, contact training for seniors would be nationwide. Each release will be considered separately and must be approved by the Government.

Proposal to strengthen border controls on arrivals

The control of arrivals to Lithuania by sea and airports was also discussed during the WESC meeting. Officials from the State Border Guard Service and National Society Center staff will verify arrivals and direct them to the mobile point for COVID-19 testing. It should be noted that in countries with high morbidity or high levels of coronavirus mutations, isolation is mandatory in a single room, that is, such individuals will not be able to leave the place of self-isolation during the isolation period. The proposal to force carriers to control passengers was also supported.

“The suggestion would be to stop the cars a bit away from the wall and install certain poles for medical reasons, and ask for information about the available test and send a completed form,” Interior Minister A. Bilotaitė said at a press conference on Monday. . .

This, he said, would allow for greater control over land roads, with the introduction of such adjustments at airports and seaports due to the spread of coronavirus mutations around the world.

“The requirement for arriving planes or ferries to have both a proof and to complete the corresponding form has already come into effect today. It has been decided that from today there will be stricter controls: those people will be more closely monitored with the help of the border officials and the personnel of the National Center of Public Health and it will be ensured that all those people have both a test and a complete form, ”said the Minister.

The main focus of the police

For her part, Renatas Požėla, Commissioner General of the Police, pointed out that the epidemiological situation among officials is improving: currently about 40 police officers are sick and 30 of them are isolated.

According to him, despite the heavy workload, the functions will be assured.

“We will plan the work so that all orders and functions are carried out in full,” noted R. Požėla.

The Commissioner General of Police did not hide the fact that the organization does not currently have about 1,400 officers.

“This year, taking into account the available budget, we plan to reduce this (number – aut.p.) a little,” emphasized R. Požėla.

According to him, the police community is “mobilized.”

“Work is organized by planning overtime pay and work. As a general rule, the work of police officers is not limited to 40 hours per week, but must perform other functions related to the management of the coronavirus in addition to their usual duties. In this way, the police capacity operates in the highways, streets, cities and other areas of the country ”, explained the commissioner.

When asked what additional movement restrictions should look like, Požėla said final decisions from the government are awaited.

“We put more emphasis on those red municipalities, perhaps the police capacity could contribute more to making the red municipalities green and to the circle of municipalities where living and business conditions can be mitigated. (…) With total clarity, then we would communicate with the mayors and present the methods and techniques of police operation to those municipalities, ”said R. Požėla.

According to him, it is planned to employ up to 200 police officers this year.

“These would be mainly prevention officers, community officers who would work with the public, and criminal police investigators who would work in the territorial police offices to investigate specific crimes,” Požėla said.

At present, there are about 40 thousand sick people in Lithuania, 270 new cases were registered according to the data of the previous day, 9000 people recovered in a week. In the last two weeks, the incidence in Lithuania has been less than 500 cases in a 14-day period. 2.8 percent of the country’s total population was vaccinated.

Delphi recalls that the quarantine in Lithuania has been in force since November 7 and that strict measures have been adopted since December 16. The quarantine was extended until February 28.