A.Veryga says that the quarantine is working, calls for the closure of the Seimas, although he awaits a vote on I.Šimonytė’s budget

Recently, it became clear that Seimas spokesperson Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, members of the Seimas Liberal Movement faction Viktoras Pranckietis and Jonas Varkalys had been infected with COVID-19. Some parliamentarians had to isolate themselves.

“We can unequivocally call the situation that is currently in the Seimas a hotbed,” Vergaga said at a remote press conference on Friday and offered assistance to Parliament to control the virus under his leadership and the National Center for Public Health (NVSC).

Offers to stop working without exception

The spread of COVID-19 in the Seimas was also addressed by his leadership. The Seimas Board planned to establish a COVID-19 mobile station next to the House of Parliament, to carry out periodic weekly tests of the parliamentarians and employees of the Seimas Chancellery.

It is also planned to install partitions between the workplaces of the members of the Seimas in the plenary session hall of the Seimas, the parliamentarians who do not meet, will be asked to walk less in the room.

A.Veryga, representative of the opposition “peasant” faction in the Seimas, claimed that this was not enough. He is convinced that the work of the Seimas should be suspended despite the fact that important votes are scheduled for next week.

You really shouldn’t speculate on telecommuting.

“Action must be taken immediately. It is recommended to suspend the work of the Seimas for a couple of weeks with no exceptions. I want to emphasize that there is really no need to speculate about telecommuting or similar things, which should still be adopted in the Seimas and it would take time” said A. Veryga.

“It will not be enough to simply review the session of the members of the Seimas, to seat them in some other way. There is a clear recommendation to stop working for two weeks until the fireplace is controlled,” he added.

Minister: I am not an expert on constitutional details

On Thursday, President Gitanas Nausėda presented the candidacy of Conservative Representative Ingrida Šimonytė to the Seimas for the post of Prime Minister. According to the Statute of the Seimas, the next session of the Seimas to make a decision on the submitted candidacy must take place within one week at the latest, that is, no later than the following Thursday.

After that, once the Seimas approves the Prime Minister, he must, in accordance with the Constitution, no later than within 15 days after his appointment, present to the Seimas the Government formed and approved by the President and present his program For your consideration.

So how can the activities of the Seimas be stopped now? A.Veryga responded that it is possible to fit the terms.

“I’m certainly not a very good expert on all these constitutional details. I think this should be evaluated by the Seimas Board in consultation with the Seimas attorneys.

From what I had to speak, it was as if there was an opportunity to fit the deadlines, because it seems that these processes have to be completed by December 25. Perhaps there are more stresses on the budget. But in any case, solutions must be found ”, said the minister.

According to the minister, plenary sessions and other work should not take place in the Seimas for two weeks. He also noted that there are many at-risk people working here who would be particularly at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19.

A test for the rulers

“Isolation of COVID-19 patients and those who have been in contact with them should now be a priority throughout the virus’s entire incubation period until the infected and sick are identified. The solution is definitely not just testing. before meetings for a certain period of time <...> even in the case of a negative test, a person may already be infected ”, explained the minister.

The actions of the ruling authorities to stop the work of the Seimas, in their opinion, would be proof that the new government will be able to handle the COVID-19 situation also at the national level.

This could indicate that you are ready to handle the situation on a much larger scale.

“The ruling majority has repeatedly emphasized that it has a plan to control the coronavirus in Lithuania. I want to invite everyone to start with a smaller and simpler part of the plan, that is, control the home in the Seimas, and demonstrate this in life. real, now is the time to do it.

This could show that he is prepared to manage the situation on a much larger scale, that is, to manage the situation not only in Parliament, but also throughout the country, ”said A.Veryga.

Parliament tried to legalize remote work at the Seimas in the spring, but it failed. Veryga himself abstained during the vote.

“During teleworking, according to the models that were proposed, they had to meet at least to vote, which means that they would be physically on the premises, meet, communicate, contact would not be interrupted,” said the minister.

The claims quarantine is working

Assessing the situation in the Seimas in general, A.Veryga claimed that the parliamentarians acted irresponsibly when they had contacts with the infected, and still met with the presidents of Lithuania and Poland.

“This is an example of irresponsible behavior not only in Lithuania, but also in the international context. Once again, I want to urge the new leaders of the Seimas to act very responsibly and set an example to all the inhabitants of Lithuania,” he taught A. Vergaga.

There is a quarantine regime in the country to control the spread of COVID-19. The quarantine is scheduled for November 29. R.Veryga previously stated that said regime will last for at least three weeks.

Whether it will be stricter will depend on the spread of COVID-19, the minister assured. He also noted that the introduction of quarantine is paying off as the spread of the infection slows, although the number of cases remains very high.

We don’t want everything to go back to normal in a week or two.

“We don’t want everything to go back to normal in a week or two because many people are infected, some do not know that they are infected and they spread the disease. And the numbers we see now are still similar to last week’s numbers. They no longer doubled as it was normal to see <...>, which means quarantine works, takes effect.

Whether it will be enough or not will probably have to wait. If the numbers start to drop, we will consider it sufficient. If the numbers continue to be high and the burden for medical institutions remains the same, the measures will have to be more stringent, but whatever that restriction, I cannot say yet, ”commented A.Veryga.

In hospitals, patients are infected before quarantine.

Researcher Ligita Jančorienė, head of the Santara Clinics Infectious Diseases Corps, said that medical institutions, where the situation currently remains tense due to the large number of COVID-19 patients, are still treating patients before the quarantine.

“We already know very well that from the moment the quarantine requirements come into effect, the results can be felt in about two or three weeks, sometimes later,” said the professor. His speech is quoted by BNS.

“It was at that time, before the quarantine came into effect, when the risk of infection was highest and those who did get infected could only turn positive after five to seven, sometimes 10 days, so it also took around a week, sometimes “We continue to work on the consequences, which have started from the period before the announcement of the quarantine, but still inert, the wave of patients is still large,” said the professor.

According to her, most of the people who arrive report that they are infected by school children or loved ones who have exercised.

Those results may not be noticed immediately after the start of the quarantine requirements.

“It just came to our notice then. I think that when the quarantine requirements start, those results may not be immediately noticeable,” said L. Jančorienė.

He said he supported the idea of ​​continuing the quarantine and even looking for ways to toughen it up.

There are almost no imported cases, the spread is in homes

Greta Gargasienė, Chief Specialist of the Communicable Disease Management Division of the National Center for Public Health (NVSC), also participated in the press conference. Co-assessed the transmission routes of COVID-19.

“We continue to monitor the spread. Trends continue to be such that the majority of cases are registered in those people who know they have been infected after contact with an already infected person. According to preliminary data, we have around 70% of these in November “, said.

According to G.Gargasienė, the number of imported COVID-19 cases did not reach 1%. of confirmed cases, and there are about 30% of those cases in which the chain of infection has not been identified.

According to the NVSC, COVID-19 is more common in people of working age.

“People under the age of 19 represent 7.5 percent. [užsikrėtusiųjų], from 20 to 35 years – 25.5 percent, from 36 to 60 years – 47 percent, and over 61 years – 20 percent “, – called G.Gargasienė.

Doctors and students are sick

To date, to her knowledge, COVID-19 affects 2,476 physicians.

“Currently, there are still 2,476 cases. In September-November, a total of 3121 cases were confirmed for health professionals,” Gargasienė said, adding that a total of 3,540 doctors had been diagnosed with coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. .

In the country’s schools and kindergartens, almost 1.3 children suffer from coronavirus, more than 1,000. workers.

“Currently, almost 1.3 thousand people are still sick. Children and more than a thousand. Employees of medical institutions,” said G. Gargasienė.

From September 1 to November 19, to your knowledge, a total of 3,254 cases of COVID-19 were detected in educational institutions: 1798 children, almost 1.5 thousand children. – employees of educational institutions.

Another 640 cases of infection have been confirmed in high school students since September.

Press conference of the Ministry:

Case record

According to the Ministry of Health, to establish 2 thousand in Lithuania on the last day. 272 new cases of COVID-19. This is the highest number of cases per day ever recorded.

In total, COVID-19 infected more than 42,000 people in the country. people, more than 10 thousand. they got better.

357 infected people have died since COVID-19.

By the end of this week, some 2,000 patients should receive treatment in the country’s hospitals. patients infected with COVID-19. This is the government’s forecast.

According to Inga Cechanovičienė, representative of the Ministry of Health, approximately two thirds of these people will need oxygen therapy or artificial lung ventilation.

He also noted that the country is approaching the peak of hospitalized patients, but the situation is under control.

According to data on Thursday, a total of 1,437 people are being treated for coronavirus in Lithuanian hospitals, 109 of them in resuscitation.