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Lithuanian Česlovas has lived in London for several decades. On September 4, he needed to transport his young children from Ventspils, Latvia. As there were no direct flights from London to Latvia that day, according to him, the Lithuanian decided to fly to Kaunas. An acquaintance came to Kaunas airport to pick him up in Latvia. They did not stop anywhere, they both went to Latvia, but when they returned to Kaunas airport a few days later due to the return flight, they were beaten by the officers of the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), they were fined for failure to comply with mandatory self-isolation.
“I completed the form (which should be sent to the National Center for Public Health – aut. Past). Not after landing at the airport, not on paper, but in advance – electronically. It was necessary to indicate where you will be in Lithuania, where you will be isolated. Otherwise, do not provide a complete form. There is no option that you are not in Lithuania, because I am in transit through Lithuania to Latvia. There is no choice: mandatory address in Lithuania, period. Give an address: a car rental point.
I will return to Kaunas airport on September 8, telling me at passport control: “You have not been quarantined.” I replied that I was not even in Lithuania. Asked to prove, present checks. I explained to him that if he had known, he would have accumulated them. I offered to provide my bank statement, because there is proof that the payment was made in Latvia during those days. Disagreeing, he further stated that he could not prove that he was not in Lithuania. Even my email. Email verification took 45 minutes – government agencies couldn’t send emails (I wanted to send a good decision in my own eyes) to those emails. emails with X characters in their addresses. And he also wrote a false record on penalties that he did not know that quarantine was necessary. I knew it was necessary, but I didn’t know that there was a form that would not allow me to self-quarantine, ”Česlovas says.
No response received about the exemption
In Latvia, he claims that he has been maybe 5 times in the last month, both flying and driving his car, even through Lithuania, but he was never stopped, nobody heard anything, much less was not punished. According to Česlovas, more than one passenger was stranded at Kaunas airport on September 8. Several of them had previously filled out the required non-isolation exemption form, but received no response from the National Public Health Center (NVSC).
“People said they sent those exemption requests 4-5 times. The system allegedly broke. Why do people have to take responsibility for their system not working? People, maybe 10 of them, were fined 500 euros each for completing the form on time, submitting it, they did everything, but they didn’t get timely responses due to the overloaded system? Česlovas was surprised.
It concluded that if he had filled out the NVSC form by hand, on paper, he would have avoided the fines. After all, then you can lie, provide inaccurate data, no one will check. And here is the electronic version of the form, which seems to speed up the Kaunas airport departure process, it is not possible to do so.
“I saw how a person filled my eyes.” Petras Petraitis, look Durnyne Glasses st. 5 “. I did everything honestly, I filled it out honestly, I wanted to point out that I would be quarantined in Latvia, I did not go in electronic format, I was not in Lithuania, and here I am guilty. Also for me, those 250 euros are a matter of principle. Why are people punished for the failure of their system? And why do I have to prove that I was not in Lithuania, then they have to prove that I was, ”Česlovas said, promising to complain about the protocol.
Another woman living in England 15 minutes He said that after the sudden death of his mother, he bought tickets on the same day and flew back to Lithuania for the funeral, having previously sent a request to leave the place of self-isolation, but received no response (the request was approved or not) in a few days.
The officer only obeyed the law
SBGS Spokesperson Giedrius Mišutis 15 minutes He claimed that the agents working at the Kaunas airport in this case simply did their job and did it well, in accordance with prescribed legal standards.
“One of the most important things is that the person, coming from the United Kingdom, for whom 2 weeks of self-isolation is established, filled out all the documents and promised to remain in self-isolation, to go to the NVSC when he went to another country (not did). place of residence in Lithuania. There are standard documents. He voluntarily filled them out as an adult. Then came all the legal stuff.
It is not about any type of transit in this case. The transit is for foreigners who return to their country. They don’t even fill out those questionnaires, they cross Lithuania, they leave and they don’t come back. The fact that this man arrived and returned to the airport after 4 days is not transit. He misunderstood the situation. It is a mistake not to care. There are no reservations for these travelers. The border guards naturally imposed a fine on the basis of documents that were registered, like many others. This is a violation. A border guard who checks his documents has no other way out ”, explained G. Mišutis.
According to him, according to SBGS, 246 such cases have been identified since August 1, about 6 per day. consent, taken in absentia.
It is not about any type of transit in this case.
“If he had filled everything in the place at once, the plane would have left. There are no accusations against the officer in this case. He did everything required by law,” said the SBGS representative, emphasizing that no one would confirm in this case whether You were a citizen of Latvia or you were in Lithuania, which are secondary matters.
1500 daily applications
In response to 15 minutes questions, the NVSC stressed that more than 1,500 requests for isolation permits are received daily. Each specific request, as indicated in the response, is considered on its own merits and such authorizations are granted only if it is established that leaving the isolation site will not pose a risk of spreading the infection. In general, each case is evaluated individually and decisions are individual.
In most cases, people requesting permission to leave the isolation site approach the NVSC and state that they must go to the workplace.
“There are also many requests to go to state institutions, when people need to process various documents, for example, to the Migration Department. Usually this request is made by foreign nationals. Of course, during the summer there were also a series of requests for permission to temporarily leave the place of isolation going to weddings, anniversaries of loved ones. Unfortunately, there are certainly cases where people request permission to remain in solitary confinement for reasons that are not included in the approved list of exceptions. For example, going to beauty establishments, going shopping, etc. NVSC does not honor such requests, ”reads the response sent to NVSC’s editorial office.
Isolation, according to NVSC representatives, is necessary to avoid contact with other people, which is essentially the most important means of protection against the threat of virus spread. Therefore, people must responsibly assess for themselves whether that reason is really that compelling or whether the need to leave a place of isolation is really a necessity.
More than 1,500 requests for permission to be isolated are received daily.
The permit to leave the place of isolation will be issued for a maximum of 7 calendar days. In cases where permission is required to leave the isolation site for a longer period, the COVID-19 (coronavirus infection) test will be repeated and the authorization will be renewed if the test is negative.
“It is important that after receiving permission to leave the place of isolation, the person is still considered isolated, that is, they must follow the isolation rules. The permit in no way shortens the isolation period, it only grants the right to perform the actions specified in the permit, that is, going to the specified place at the specified time and purpose ”, explains the NVSC letter.
Must reply within a day
When asked how long it takes to respond to a person’s request to leave the place of self-isolation, the answer is that requests submitted before 3:00 p.m. must be processed on the same business day, if it is after 3:00 p.m. next business day.
“Of course, there are really different situations, because in one case it may be clear to specialists, in another, it is necessary to contact people more than once by phone, clarify information, consult a person. Everything possible is being done so that, if there is a reason to do so, people receive permission as soon as possible and are informed ”, reported the NVSC representatives.
According to them, transit through Lithuania is considered to be only if it continues by air and the person does not leave the airport area.
When asked if the paper questionnaires did not create a situation where passengers could simply provide incorrect information and no one would confuse it, NVSC did not respond. However, the day after the appeal, on September 11, she circulated a message to the media that from now on, everyone coming to Lithuania will have to fill out electronic questionnaires.
According to a press release issued by NVSC, all travelers returning to or arriving in Lithuania on scheduled, special or charter flights by air, sea or land will have to submit their personal data to NVSC specialists electronically. This means that before boarding a plane, ferry, bus or train, a person will have to fill out a form on the NVSC website and present the confirmation received, the so-called QR code, at the time of boarding the vehicle.
In this link you will find the document form
A paper questionnaire will only be available in exceptional cases for land transport if, for truly objective reasons, such as interruptions of the internet connection, etc., this cannot be done electronically.
In the questionnaire, people must indicate their name, place of residence, countries visited, contact details, as well as the flight number, seat on the plane or ferry. This procedure will take effect on September 15.
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