Teachers on why Lithuania is among the European countries with the highest incidence of coronavirus

In 3 countries, the situation changed little during the week: Latvia saw a slight increase, while Ireland and Norway saw a slight decrease in new infections. Morbidity has decreased in 27 countries: new infections continue to decline in all major countries, with a sharp decline in Poland and France. And the biggest drops were recorded in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

But why is Lithuania back in second place? What caused it? An infectologist, Professor Alvydas Laiškonis, and a communicable disease specialist, Professor Saulius Čaplinskas, spoke about it.

The public no longer understands who must comply with the bans.

One of the interlocutors, prof. S. Čaplinskas notes that the high morbidity was caused by various circumstances. One is that prevention measures must be timely, targeted, fully enforced, and supported by the people.

“It has long been clear that bans alone will achieve nothing, they are exhausted, part of the population has not lived in quarantine for a long time. If you are infected, the infection spreads even further. People no longer follow recommendations. The question is how people trust decision makers and those from whom they hear recommendations. And you usually listen to them from politicians, “said S. Čaplinskas.

According to him, all recommendations and measures should be taken in a timely manner and not for long, because only then will people follow them. In addition, it is very important that the public understand why one or another preventive measure is needed and support it. If the government’s decisions are incomprehensible, no one will follow them.

“People need to communicate clearly so they understand what is important. No special research required – go to the store and see how people wear masks there. Whether he doesn’t understand it, doesn’t explain it to you, or how, if the mask doesn’t cover your nose, it’s the same as you would be without the mask at all. This means that the mask is worn only because it is told to. The same goes for parents, if they don’t understand why their children need to be tested, “said the interlocutor.

People, he says, remember various illogical solutions, leading to mistrust of other existing tools that stop the spread of the virus. However, if it is not explained to the public why it is necessary, it will not have worked.

“We are probably now seeing communication errors and we can conclude that in other countries the public has been better informed about why one or another preventive measure is necessary, how they should behave so as not to endanger their loved ones.

It is also necessary to clarify what will happen next, how it will be treated for a month or a few. We have to think less about the bans and more about how a person can manage their own risk, ”said S. Čaplinskas about the fact that society no longer understands the benefits of preventive measures.

Doubts about whether the Family March will cause a major change in the general statistics

The second reason for the high incidence in the table is the high number of studies carried out.

“There is a lot of research going on in Lithuania, so it goes without saying that the more you investigate, the more you will find. Previously, there were very few studies in Lithuania and the infection spread unnoticed. But I have many doubts whether there are too many diagnoses in Lithuania. , because it is not yet clear if any external laboratory control is carried out.

Third, although, according to S. Čaplinskas, the volume and speed of vaccination are not bad, there are still many unvaccinated people at risk. However, there are not many deaths, so it can be assumed that vaccines are already starting to do their good job.

When asked what effect the family march, which was noisy on Saturday, would have on overall morbidity statistics, S. Čaplinskas said there should be no big changes. However, such an event is not a good example for the public.

“The mere fact that some people do not demonstratively follow the recommendations is wrong. This is a bad example because quite a few people have been without masks and together for a long time.

But the event was in an open space and people did not mix too much with each other. If the space is closed, the virus can spread very quickly. In an open space where there was sun and wind, even if there were infections, I don’t think there would be a significant number of them. Perhaps it will be similar to last year in Palanga, when it was overcrowded, but there were not many infections “, considered the interlocutor.

There is a lack of human consciousness

At that time, the Family March is worrying for the infectologist, Professor A. Laiškonis. According to him, in about a week we will be able to see if the number of diseases will increase.

“I saw that Family March yesterday, there was no quarantine at all. No one paid attention there and I’m afraid we will have an increase in cases after that. We’ll see what happens in a week as that march changes the statistics. This surprised me. a lot, because no measures were taken there. The consciousness of our people is practically very low. That is why we have what we have, “said Prof. A. Laiškonis.

Furthermore, judging from the content of the posters and the speeches made there, there is little hope that the people gathered at the Family March will be vaccinated.

According to the infectologist, although the morbidity is high, the number of deaths may be due to the fact that the youngest are sick. Most of them are treated at home and since they are younger, have fewer illnesses, the chances of dying are also lower.

The main reason why the incidence in Lithuania has increased again, according to the professor, is the lack of public awareness.

“It just came to our attention then. And our consciousness is very low. Most don’t pay attention to limitations anymore. Well, I hope things will improve with more active vaccines. However, the place in the statistics is constantly changing, so that we cannot be too happy or too sad ”, said the interlocutor.

According to him, it is to be appreciated that vaccination is getting faster and faster and that younger and more mobile people can be vaccinated.