A.Veryga stated that Vilnius, who wanted more freedom, contracted more coronavirus, R.Šimašius, that the municipality are only soldiers

According to the resolution adopted by the Government on Monday, the local quarantine is currently announced in Elektrėnai, Joniškis district, Jurbarkas district, Kaunas city, Kelmė district, Klaipėda city, Klaipėda district, Kretinga district, Marijampolė district from Pasvalys, Plungė district, Skuodas district, Šiauliaiė district, Šilauodas district, In the territories of Širvintos district, Švenčionys district, Telšiai district, Trakai district, Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities.

The local quarantine means that these municipalities will have to comply not only with national restrictions but also with additional ones. For example, masks should be worn in all public places (both open and closed). Exceptions to who can remove the masks can be found here.

The flow of culture, leisure, entertainment, service users and other visitors will also be restricted. There are other limitations to power too, read them here.

Lack of conducted forces

R.Šimašius, speaking with 15 minutes, said it was logical to introduce quarantine in such a number of infections.

“It can be argued here that this could have been avoided if the chimneys had been prepared and serviced in a timely manner, as it was clear that the lack of capacity at the National Public Health Center (NVSC) had led to this situation. And now with regard to the decisions of the Government, we as a municipality are very aware that the Government leads, and we as soldiers have to carry it out and we are going to do it, that is logical, “said the mayor.

We as a municipality know very well that the Government leads, and we as soldiers have to execute and we will execute, that is logical.

According to him, this decision will change a lot in the city: wearing masks in public places, restrictions on meetings, keeping distance everywhere.

“It just came to our knowledge then. There are many questions, all kinds of illogical ones,” said the mayor, inviting to seek answers on the karantinas.lt page, recognizing that something may be missing, because kindergartens, schools and the municipality lack answers.

I had to prepare

However, the mayor assures that efforts are being made not to unduly restrict life. When asked if he saw methods that may have been overlooked by SAM or NVSC, R. Šimašius named the chimney management COVID-19, although this is likely no longer relevant.

“I’ll just remind you of what we said in the spring, when there were drastic quarantine measures that may not be necessary now, we and others have made it very clear that quarantine is necessary because this virus has caught humanity off guard, unexpectedly. Of all of us. the countries, I would say, maybe only Finland was well prepared, all the others were not. Naturally, we did not have time to prepare. And now more than half a year has passed, the question of whether we have used up that time.

It is clear that Barbora was able to hire an additional 500 people per week to secure the supply of goods, and the NVSC was unable to increase its capacity. Therefore, perhaps the infected people were not informed in time, they did not know that they should be careful. The controls to protect do not work either. As a result, we have come to the conclusion that we now have a lot of chimneys and we can no longer control them, we have to take comprehensive measures. “

It is clear that Barbora was able to hire an additional 500 people per week to secure the supply of goods, and the NVSC was unable to increase its capacity.

R.Šimašius assured that now it is necessary to talk about those housework because it will be necessary to go out and out of this wave, because when the second wave begins to fall, it will be necessary to control separate chimneys. “So the main thing should be the managerial changes in the NVSC, the serious managerial change in SAM, which will naturally occur soon, and the technological use of the data, that is, on the side of NVSC and SAM. All other measures they are adequate, logical, just the question of which and when to apply ”, said the mayor.

He mentioned that massive events are still held and that the training of children is prohibited here. However, the mayor no longer wanted to criticize him much, stressing that there may be illogical things, they must be corrected, but the situation is too serious for no action to be taken.

He is accused of finding ways to circumvent the requirements.

However, Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga tends to describe the mayor’s criticism as politicized:

As we wanted, that’s right: we wanted freedom, perhaps paraphrasing some politicians, more presentation, now we have more coronavirus.

I remember perfectly the statements of the Director of Administration that here there is no need to limit anything, you have to apply the measures with great precision. We have the result of these precision measurements in nature ”.

He shared his experience of what he sees when he goes to work early in the morning (the SAM building is located at the intersection of Vilnius and Islandijos streets, where a very active nightlife boils – Red. past.).

“I could see perfectly what was happening near the nightclubs where people were parting. There was and cannot be any allusion to the established requirements. The behavior of the people there would be strange if the situation in Vilnius had not deteriorated. As we wanted, that’s right. We wanted more freedom, perhaps to paraphrase some politicians, more feelingo, now we have more coronavirus, “said the minister ironically.

The work of the Vilnius municipal administration during the quarantine will not change substantially, since all this time since the start of the pandemic, it has mainly operated remotely. This was justified, says R.Šimašius, because although at least two cases of the disease have been identified in the municipality (one: Deputy Mayor Edita Tamošiūnaitė), the disease has not spread more widely.