A member of the board of health experts named criteria for when at least some respite will be possible

On the Delfi rytas program, the data scientist said that we would see the real epidemiological situation later this week.

“We will see everything this week because we had holidays, there was less testing at the time. And unfortunately, we cannot say precisely from the data if the restrictions have been eased due to the number of holidays or are already here,” said V. Zemlys – Balevičius on the show.

He said that he understood that the public wanted a clear answer, but would have to wait another week. Still, there are some signs of improvement in the stats.

“There seems to have been some signs of improvement in the last few days, as the percentage of positive tests fell over the weekend, which generally increases at the weekend. But here is the data for a couple of days. We have to wait for this week’s data so that we can really see and see what the situation is like, “said data scientist” Delfi rytas. “

He said he would urge to wait not only this week, but also next, and then assess the real situation.

“The numbers have to go down to a few hundred cases per day, we still see thousands, even as the tests go down. That is the date of the restrictions until January 31, we have to wait and see if it is necessary to extend them, “said V. Zemlys-Balevičius, data scientist at Euromonitor International.

The expert said that until we see a double-digit percentage of positive research, we really can’t afford to relax. According to data from January 4, the Department of Statistics indicates that this figure is 22.7 percent, in the last 7 days.

“And when we see it, it is up to us: how we adhere to the restrictions. I think some of them adhere to it, but there is also part of the population that does not. It is they who also contribute to the spread. I hope that we see that fall in the coming weeks. If it is important, the restrictions can be relaxed “, said the expert.

Latvia welcomed curfew holidays, although the epidemiological situation in the neighboring country is much better. The data expert said it could help, not only in terms of movement restrictions, but also in psychological terms.

“I don’t know what the law of Latvia is, I don’t know how they can introduce the curfew. But in our country it is only introduced to the state of emergency. And it is adapted to the wartime and does not seem adequate to handle the epidemic. Of course, the curfew would help, it is already here for the Seimas to approve laws to handle the epidemic, perhaps something else. (…) If it is introduced at night, it is a good psychological factor that they are serious things, “said the expert in the program.

The Euromonitor International data scientist called Delfi rytas, which the result of a few weeks would be a “good scenario”.

“In a bad scenario, I think next week we will see the average number of cases fluctuate around 3,000. There would be a bad scenario here, obviously even worse, if they started to rise. The good scenario is if we see a significant drop in what has been before the holidays.

If the 7-day average will be 2 thousand. cases per day, this will already mean that the restrictions are in place. (…) By January 31 we could go up to an average of a thousand cases a day, which would significantly facilitate the work of the health system, which would be very good ”, said V. Zemlys-Balevičius on the“ Delfi rytas ”program.