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The legend of October 16. Quarantine can be found both online and near a table in a cafe. The date for the start of a new quarantine is often recalled in comments along with posts about coronavirus or measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Photo of 15min / Message about the alleged October 16. The planned start of the second quarantine was announced on Facebook in early July.
“I think there will be quarantine again from October 16. Many are worried, the laws are unconscious. I wanted to study tourism, now I had to rethink everything, because half of the walls were closed,” said a senior student from Kretinga in early September.
“It just came to our notice then. Everybody pulls some dates from somewhere, it’s September 30, it’s October 16, it’s October 20, etc. They say they really know there will be quarantine,” says one member. from the Vinted forum.
However, the comments are usually more succinct: it is named on October 16. and explains that “they” have known him for some time. However, “they”, who make the decisions, do not plan the quarantine dates.
“In the event of a significant increase in morbidity in one or another city or district, local measures can be applied to specific sectors or municipalities, but no quarantine is envisaged throughout the country.” 15 minutes said Jurgita Tamolytė, representative of the Ministry of Health (SAM).
15min.lt collage / October 16 often declined in comments and forums
According to SAM, the lessons learned during the previous quarantine in the spring provided the tools to manage the spread of the virus without the introduction of universal quarantine, to control infection foci without the strictest restrictions.
However, the Ministry does not specify the specific threshold beyond which quarantine measures would apply in the regions. According to J.Tamolytė, one of the main indicators to assess the epidemiological situation is the total morbidity rate for the last 14 days.
According to the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), 769 new cases of COVID-19 were registered in Lithuania during the last 14 days. According to the latest data, on Thursday A record number of cases was recorded in Lithuania: 138.
Veryga told reporters on Thursday that no new restrictions are planned due to the increase in the number of new infections in COVID-19.
In the event of a significant increase in morbidity in one or another city or district, local measures can be applied to specific sectors or municipalities, but no quarantine is envisaged at the national level.
Unclear sources
The main complaints, supposedly on October 16. expect a second quarantine, a side effect of the popularization of the COVID-19 outbreak. At that time, in reality, the decision to quarantine or not is determined by epidemiological factors, not by consistent adherence to the schedule.
We describe the rumors about the supposed “second quarantine” in early July, when the first messages about the fateful October 16 appeared. The message posted in the post corresponded to a typical case of a broken phone.
Thousands of people copied and shared a message in which a distant acquaintance, in this case a “sister-in-law’s husband,” heard information about October 16. waiting for the start of the quarantine in the Seimas.
So-called chain messages are a very favorable means of spreading false information, since it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to explain who wrote them. COVID-19 during the outbreak this type posts occurred not one.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Aurelijus Veryga
It is unclear who first posted the information on October 16, so we cannot ask who posted the message about the situation. Even if the “sister-in-law’s husband” is a real person, did you perhaps hear MPs talking about the Seimas elections?
However, on October 16, after the first electoral round, there will be a good week left to attract voters to his side in re-election.
The magic of the number “16”
The act, which turned the rumor into an almost indisputable truth, mentions that “the order was already signed in June”, but in June another document related to the quarantine was published. 16 of the first month of summer. the end of the quarantine was announced.
It is also interesting that no other date is announced than that of October 16. The quarantine began on March 16, ended on June 16, and the second quarantine seems to have been chosen also on the 16th. Probably the “conspirators” who create the conspiracy theory do not try to lose their feet and “choose” one more date sophisticated.
Tomas Markelevičius / 15min photo / COVID-19 point in Radviliškis
October 16 could have been chosen for another reason, such as because it is mid-fall. There were no reports that the coronavirus infection could return in force in the second half of fall. So when you put your finger on the calendar to select a date, the first day of the second part of the year seems like a suitable candidate.
There is no reliable information on the fact that on October 16. scheduled quarantine is not available. It is a rumor that has been carried by word of mouth for almost three months and is more actively remembered in the country with a drastic increase in the incidence of coronavirus.
This is not to say that this day cannot become the first day of quarantine, if there is one. October 16 is as suitable for the start of the second quarantine as any other day.
Instinct for self-protection
According to American psychologists, conspiracy theories serve three functions – Helps to cope with fear of the unknown, gives a sense of security and control, and helps create a sense of community.
What do we really know about the coronavirus?
Conspiracy theories provide simple answers to complex problemsThey create a sense of security in an unpredictable world.
Therefore, in the belief that “they” set the exact dates when the quarantine will be announced, peace and security are sought. The reality, in which there is no certainty of when and if the quarantine will be announced, is not convenient.
Belief in conspiracy theories is not specific to race, gender, age, education, or income group. However, different “theories” are often supported by different groups of people. The more a person identifies with one or the other group, the more likely they are to lie.
Reliable sources
Representatives of the information space monitoring institutions and SAM advise not to use social networks as the only source of information and to be especially skeptical about any information published in the comments.
It requires the selection of data from official institutions, reliable media, and careful monitoring of where the information comes from. The onset of the coronavirus pandemic has sparked a wave of misleading information, sometimes deliberately promoted by foreign countries.
Official information on COVID-19 is provided by Ministry of Health (SAM), Center for Communicable Diseases and AIDS (ULAC), World Health Organization (WHO), National Center for Public Health, European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The post was prepared in 15 minutes. in collaboration with Facebook a program to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.
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