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The quarantine in Lithuania ended on July 1, but the situation remained dire, and with it most of the remaining virus control measures.
“I would like to say that many releases have already been introduced, they continue, but it should not be forgotten that the virus has not disappeared after the end of the quarantine, and some requirements for infection control will be maintained. These will be recommendations for the same masks, to be used indoors, in public places, in transportation, in places of national commerce, ”said Živilė Gudlevičienė, health advisor to Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, at the Delfi Tema fair.
An adviser to the head of government urged the population not to forget that the virus itself has not disappeared, “at any moment the situation could get worse if we relax completely and stop following the infection control measures.”
The virus mutates
The communicable disease specialist prof. Saulius Čaplinskas was unwilling to talk about going back into quarantine, but agreed that there is an obvious risk that the virus will mutate very quickly.
“This is especially true in countries where people live very densely, where the virus spreads very quickly from one person to another, and if you come across an immunosuppressive person (say, in South Africa, the danger is that 19% of people people living with HIV or AIDS)), then the virus may have particularly favorable conditions for mutation, ”said S. Čaplinskas.
According to the professor, the Delta variety is of particular concern to this day, where it is not entirely clear how effective the vaccines are.
“Yes, they protect, but they probably protect less of this variety than of other varieties. On the one hand, there is a risk of introducing new strains of the virus. On the other hand, there is a risk that the virus can mutate here too, if we don’t have strong immunity, if we are not fully vaccinated, we have some immunodeficiency, and if we don’t stop the local spread when the cold returns in season, “said S Chaplinsk.
Criteria are being discussed
The prime minister’s adviser said that it is currently not possible to answer the question of how long we could live without quarantine. The government decided this week to decide on specific criteria within two weeks.
According to Ž. Gudlevičienė is discussing the number of cases, the percentage of positive tests and the return to the quarantine regime in the event of an acceleration of the spread of the pandemic.
“This will be the algorithm for quarantine. They are discussing whether this will be the case in Lithuania or whether the problems will be solved by local isolation of certain municipalities,” said Ž. Gudlevičienė.
In the opinion of the Prime Minister, the Australian or New Zealand model, where very strict measures are taken to restrict public life immediately after registering the increase in new cases, but they do not last long, is not suitable for Lithuania.
“So far, the trend remains that the behavior will be similar. The quarantine will probably not be announced in Lithuania, but in separate municipalities. Our experience has shown that it is probably not possible to have a very strict isolation of a municipality in Lithuania, because still there is a movement. So it is very difficult to apply the Australian model “Ž. Gudlevičienė.
I don’t think it is necessary to quarantine it across the country.
Professor S. Čaplinskas agreed with that.
“I always say that you have to learn from other countries, learn from the virus, but you cannot transfer the experience from one country to another by parachute. Australia or New Zealand are islands, there is a completely different situation. It really doesn’t suit us, “said S. Čaplinskas.
The specialist recalled that it was said from the beginning that the quarantine or total closure was necessary for two reasons.
“One is to take the time to learn more about the infection. We have already done that. Second, to avoid a collapse of the health system. (…) A great effort must be made to answer the questions of those who doubt whether the vaccination or delay. There should no longer be a situation where our health system cannot support an increased influx of patients in the fall. It really doesn’t have to be as big as before, “said S. Čaplinskas.
The teacher is optimistic about the future.
“We just realized that there should be no quarantine issue next season. Another question, as suggested by Ž. Gudlevičienė that certain local measures for a certain period of time, that is, more reinforced restrictive measures, will probably be unavoidable, ”said S. Čaplinskas.
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