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How to control hundreds of thousands?
Very soon, in eleven days, a virtual document, the passport of opportunities, will come into force in Lithuania. Those who have it will be able to visit restaurants, cafes or bars, participate in lounges and outdoor events where the number of spectators cannot exceed 500 at a time, hold private parties with an unlimited number of participants, stay in hotels, lounges or rooms. private.
This passport will be available to those who have been infected with the coronavirus, are vaccinated against it or have a negative test result valid for exactly one day.
“How do you imagine this in Palanga?” Asked the mayor of Palanga, Šarūnas Vaitkus rhetorically. He did not hide his opinion that perhaps this idea is a good one, but it is completely impossible to implement all the requirements in practice, both to obtain a passport for opportunities and to control people in the largest spa in the country.
“With good weather in Palanga, about 300 thousand people lie on the beach at the same time. people. How do you think Palanga has to deal with these flows, to verify if people have passports, to control them? ”, The resort manager made no secret of his concerns when speaking with Vakarine Palanga.
Breakfast in the hotel restaurant is for units only.
“All the hotels in Palanga will be overcrowded, how can you organize so that your neighbors, who will be served breakfast and, in some places, dinner, are under control? Well, if the weather is favorable, it will be possible to organize such services on the outdoor terraces, and if it is raining and cold, then all clients will dine inside the hotel’s restaurants or cafes.
How to control if these canteens are healthy and do not pose a threat to other visitors? On the one hand, how much extra staff do you need to hire to control everyone who comes to the restaurant, on the other hand, what to do for those customers who will be forced to have breakfast inside the restaurant due to the weather? After all, only those who have passports with access, that is, those who have been sick, vaccinated or have a negative coronavirus test, taken no later than 24 hours before, will be able to enter here. This means that if the Palanga guest did not get sick, he did not have the opportunity to get vaccinated, then he would have to go to the test point every holiday, wait for the test response, then take out the opportunity passport and only then go to breakfast . And so during all the festivities ”, – commented the head of Palanga on“ Western Palanga ”.
In this case, the hotels would have to hire additional staff not only to verify the possession or validity of the passport, but also to organize the delivery of breakfast in the rooms. What to do with hotels that can accommodate several hundred people at a time?
The same can be said not only of the hotels, but also of the restaurants or cafes of Palanga: in case the weather lessens, only a few would be able to eat in them.
How to get to the events?
“Another analogous situation is due to participation in events. Let’s say a person came to Palanga, saw a sign that an event would be held in the Palanga Concert Hall. Of those 500 eligible spectators, let’s say 200 will have passport options, which means the remaining 300 will have to fly to the test point and take the test urgently because otherwise they will not be admitted. How to implement it in Palanga? The resort manager made no secret of his concern.
According to the mayor of Palanga, Š. Vaitkus, perhaps in large cities, where there are more medical institutions and greater medical potential, it is possible to increase the scope of testing, but Palanga will certainly not be able to serve 300 people at a time, hours.
“There is only one test point in Palanga. Of course, we could put those points in every corner, but whoever will work on them cannot, like a cleaner. There are only two polyclinics, a hospital, several sanatoriums and another rehabilitation center in Palanga. The specialists of these medical institutions now work alternately on the spot.
In summer, the resort’s medical or treatment facilities are already overcrowded, with large flows of visitors or patients, they themselves hardly guess, the specialists are overwhelmed, so it would be completely impossible to delegate work to them at the test points. We just don’t have enough doctors to open additional test points. In this sense, Palanga simply cannot cater to the flows of people that there are in the summer ”, commented the manager of the complex, Š.Vaitkus, about Vakariniai Palanga.
It’s too early for Lithuania
According to the mayor, the idea of a passport of opportunities is good in itself, but it is too early for Lithuania to talk about it.
“We hear in public that there is a mass vaccination, but these are only languages, and people who do not enter the priority vaccination groups are generally discriminated against. Next week, we will receive 400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 200 of which will be for the booster shot.
This means that only 200 people will be vaccinated again, and that they will only be representatives of priority groups. What to do for those in their 30s or 40s, how to get vaccinated and get a passport for opportunities? They will have to wait for the vaccines to come out, and they just don’t exist, they don’t exist at all. So what to do for people of this age? Every 24 hours to go to the test points? The mayor asked.
The head of Palanga believes that the passport of opportunity should start operating in Lithuania at least a month or later. “I understand that it is necessary, but when making decisions, sometimes it is necessary to think about how to implement it. The Passport of Opportunity is brand new, so far everyone has a hard time imagining how it will actually work. Finally, who will control whether the company follows the instructions for the control of the opportunity passport, who will control the entrepreneurs themselves? Perhaps the specialists from the Center for Public Health? But, for example, there are few in Palanga… ”, feared the head of Palanga.
He said he had heard that Palanga employers were no longer interested in finding many new employees due to the high costs of implementing customer passport control, but were trying to figure out what fines they would have to pay for such violations. They are likely to be smaller than the retention of new employees.
Opportunity passport: from May 24.
May 24 The Opportunity Passport will come into force in Lithuania. Its concept was initiated by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation.
Catering establishments, restaurants, cafes, casinos and bars, with the exception of nightclubs, may serve people with an Opportunity Passport inside. Also, with the entry into force of this passport, it will be possible to hold events with up to 500 spectators both indoors and outdoors. During indoor events, spectators should occupy no more than 75 percent. seating. Individuals will need to present a passport of opportunity prior to attending an event or catering establishment.
The Opportunity Passport will remove restrictions on the number of people attending personal celebrations. With this passport, the venue for personal celebrations will also be available for rent to an unlimited number of participants of the personal celebration. With the passport, it will also be possible to offer a variety of leisure activities, both in the open space, such as recreational boating, and indoors, such as billiards or bowling. With an Opportunity Passport, it will be possible to accommodate more than one member of the same family in a room in the accommodation establishments.
The Opportunity Passport is a QR code that is given to a person on a phone that people will receive after being vaccinated against a coronavirus, having COVID-19, or having a negative COVID-19 test result. It will also be possible to print this code.
Vaccinated individuals can use the Opportunity Passport one week after the second dose of Comirnaty or COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna; 4 weeks after COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen dose; 4 weeks after the first dose of Vaxzevria, but not more than 12 weeks. after the second dose of Vaxzevria vaccine.
The passport of opportunity will also be issued in the event of a recurrence of the COVID-19 disease when the diagnosis has been confirmed on the basis of a positive PCR test or an antigen test. No more than 180 days should elapse from this positive test result. It will remain in effect no earlier than the expiration date of the assigned isolation.
The passport of opportunity will also be issued with a PCR test or antigen test performed at least 24 hours before the time of sampling and a negative response. Children under the age of 16 will also receive a passport of opportunity. age.
The tests will be reimbursed by the state. Those who want to take the test faster will also be able to use the paid services.
