Impact of the Opportunity Passport on Businesses: It will free up more activities, but customers may also need a traditional passport | Deal

The country’s Chief Epidemiologist Loreta Ašoklienė, who participated in the presentation, recalled the business-relevant changes that arise with the passport of opportunities.

“With regard to the passport of opportunity, the basic requirements for the use of masks, compliance with the flow remain where it can be guaranteed,” emphasized the specialist.

One of the main activities of the Opportunity Passport is the larger events that will be available both indoors and outdoors. Up to 500 spectators with an Opportunity Passport may attend. For indoor events, there is also a power limit that will allow you to fill up to 75 percent. seating. In addition, there are no longer restrictions on catering services in open spaces.

The changes will also affect personal celebrations if they are organized in rented premises, such as rural tourism farms, if the participants of that celebration have an Opportunity Passport. In other cases, up to ten people may attend personal celebrations.

L. Ašoklienė pointed out that its organizers will be responsible for the inspection of the participants of personal celebrations, and those attending events and catering establishments will be inspected by the responsible service providers.

“When it comes to vacations and personal rentals, if a lease is reached, it must be established that the organizer is responsible for verifying that all persons present have a passport. If this is not the case at times, the responsibility lies with the person who provides the service ”, he explained.

Until the start of the opportunity passport, members of a family or household can stay in one of the rooms rented by the accommodation company. With the introduction of the Passport of Opportunities, this requirement disappears.

Along with the Passport of Opportunity, there is the opportunity to visit public catering establishments, in-house casinos, slot machine lounges, and other gaming-related lounges.

Although people will be able to eat inside restaurants, cafes and other catering establishments with the passport, they will still be required to have distances between tables; If there is no partition, the distance will have to be 2 meters, if there is one meter. The maximum number of people inside a table is 10 people. L. Ašoklienė emphasized that the ban on nightclubs and other entertainment venues remains: they are still unable to carry out their activities.

“When deciding on Opportunity Passport activities, certain compromise decisions were made, both about not opening nightclubs and about 500 people at events. The Opportunity Passport is like a car that we can drive in all directions, depending on the epidemiological situation, so I think it is a matter of time before the government will abandon this restriction again. I think that when health experts see that it can be done, it will be done, “commented Vincas Jurgutis, Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation.

People with a passport of opportunity will be able to have fun in some of the leisure spaces. These include billiards, bowling clubs, escape rooms, table games, and sports poker clubs. Visitors will be able to visit them with an Opportunity Passport, but the requirements for masks and distances remain where this can be guaranteed. “Some activities are equated with sports, so you don’t need a mask to play sports,” said L.Ašoklienė.

A traditional passport may also be required

In her presentation, Diana Vilytė, Director of Service Management at the Registry Center, explained to residents the new procedure for obtaining an Opportunity Passport, as well as clarified the procedures for companies that inspect clients.

Verification will be done remotely through a special website created for the Opportunity Passport, the address of which will be published on Thursday, May 20.

“A person will have to provide a paper version of the opportunity passport or a code on a mobile phone. Once connected to the system, companies will be able to scan the QR code with a camera and receive a response that the passport is not forged. It is recommended, in case of suspicion, to request an identity document indicating that the person does not use the mobile equipment of a stranger or does not carry an identity document of a stranger ”, said D. Vilytė.

For tourists from abroad: vaccination certificates on paper

Speaking about the possibility of using a passport for foreign tourists in Lithuania, the Deputy Minister of Economy states that they will have paper vaccination certificates.

“If it is not in the Lithuanian e-health system, then the opportunity passport does not have to take data from where. During the transition period, paper documents will also be valid,” said V. Jurgutis.

Electrical and paper documents during the transition period.

“If a person came to Lithuania with a vaccination certificate, then that certificate would be valid as an alternative to the passport of opportunities and at least during this period, as long as there are probably not very large tourist flows, it will be possible to translate that document,” said the vice Minister.

Foreigners, like residents of the country, will be able to get more services and with a negative coronavirus test, but tourists will have to do it on their own.

“If a foreigner who has come to Lithuania wants to carry out activities without vaccination, he will have to do it on his own in a private clinic,” said V. Jurgutis.

According to him, the process should be facilitated later by common decisions of the European Union, which allow the systems of different countries to “communicate”.

People vaccinated with specific vaccines will soon be able to obtain a passport of opportunity

The government approved a passport resolution decision in early May, which will take effect on May 24. It is stated that people who meet the criteria will be able to organize personal celebrations with a greater number of participants, visit cafes and events inside.

All Lithuanian citizens over the age of 16 will be able to receive a passport of opportunity. This document will be linked to the eHealth system. This means that the Passport of Opportunities can only be kept if the data on vaccination, relapse or test result are in the electronic health system. For people under the age of 16 who wish to benefit from less strict quarantine conditions, it will be sufficient to present an identity document.

Residents will be able to obtain a passport of opportunity by registering online. On May 20, the address of the official website will be published, where residents will be able to register through the Government Gateway, online bank accounts, using a mobile signature or other means of personal identification.

People who do not use information technologies may obtain the code by visiting the branches of the Registry Center and presenting a document that allows the identification of the person.

Comirnaty and Moderna require 2 doses of vaccine. Once these vaccines have been administered, the Opportunity Passport will be available 1 week after the second dose of the vaccine. For those who have received Janssen and Vaxzevria, the Opportunity Passport will be available 4 weeks after the vaccine is administered.

Passengers with COVID-19 will also be able to use the Opportunity Passport. Coronavirus in COVID-19 Survivors the diagnosis should be confirmed with a positive PCR test or antigen test. And the serological result of the antibody test does not give access to the benefits of the Opportunity Passport, although on Monday representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Registry Center confirmed that such an opportunity is developing. This opportunity is scheduled to be introduced in June.

Both those vaccinated and those who have relapsed must renew their Opportunity Passport status (QR code) every 7 days, since the possibility of getting sick remains both with the coronavirus and with vaccinated patients. And the test is even shorter: 24 hours.

During the meeting of the Freedom Faction of the Seimas held on Monday, both the Minister of Economy and Innovation, V. Jurgutis, and the Deputy Minister of Health, Ž.Sonaonaitytė, confirmed that these periods can be extended as the epidemiological situation improves. .