Olava STRIKULIENĖ: Compatriots who stoically endured the year of the pandemic – Respublika.lt

Editorial file photo

The first case of COVID-19 in Lithuania was registered in 2020. February 28 In Šiauliai. The first death from this infection was registered in 2020. March 21 In Ukmergė. Since the beginning of the pandemic, which was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe a year ago, on March 13, COVID-19 has already infected COVID-19 in Lithuania. people. Most of them, more than 191,000, recovered. Another part of the population may have contracted such a mild form of infection that it was not even registered in the country’s medical facilities. So, in fact, there were more cases than official statistics suggest. According to data on Tuesday, 3,410 people died from coronavirus in Lithuania. These statistics are more accurate.

Creativity unleashed

Behind each statistic is the destiny of the people. And not just because of those numbers. The first quarantine in Lithuania was introduced on March 16 last year. and, with gradual relaxation, it continued until June 17. And before that, an emergency situation was declared in the state. We were urged to be careful, even though it was not possible to buy even the most primitive protective masks in pharmacies and supermarkets. We were urged to disinfect our hands even though there were no disinfectant liquids. It was just soap. So a kerchief or scarf on your face, alkaline soap – in your hand, and voila! Fight the pandemic. Which then looked as terrible as the plague.

But such a critical situation has shaken the creative powers of our population. Some rushed to sew, make face masks. Others were quick to find ways to transport medical masks from China. Protective shields were produced on site. The officials of the initiative, the businessmen, despite bureaucratic obstacles, provided the first reagents, artificial respiration equipment, gloves, respirators, etc. It was a time of personal risk. A time of boldness, misanthropy and philanthropy. Some volunteered and others regrouped businesses. On the one hand, it showed how agile an individual is when he is very scared. Or how cleverly you can financially capitalize on the scare of others. Because a pandemic is the most compelling advertisement for a medical product. On the other hand, not only did tulips bloom last spring, but also colorful, clever, and fun face masks. Match even with jackets, skirts. Online commerce, distance education, work, communication, church rites, etc. became popular. It is true that the usual Passover had to be sacrificed. And it still hurts even for a very virtual Lithuanian who has entered the “competition”.

Test your patience

And then summer came. We ran towards Palanga. We lay down without any safe distance of 2 m on the beaches. And we started making fun of the coronavirus. But in the fall he returned. Hit much more powerful. Since November 7 of last year. we live in quarantine again. Only this one is much more irritable, angry, anarchic. And completely uncreative!

Millions of people around the world have lost their jobs during a pandemic, are falling or experiencing business collapse. In Lithuania, 51.5 thousand people worked in the tourism sector last year. people. Now this sector languishes. Also the hotel and restaurant sector. By creating 42 thousand. work places. Also in companies that provide hotels with food, beverages, furniture, bedding, laundry, computer services, etc. Add beauty workers, museologists, librarians, actors, musicians, airmen – and we will have hundreds of thousands of people affected by COVID- 19. Including police officers who even had to patrol the country’s highways even during the big winter holidays. . So once again, we have to be surprised by the incredible patience of the Lithuanian citizens. Arabs, Armenians or Brazilians would already be furious at all this repression of the “combat”.

Immerse yourself in Santas Barbaras and competitive wars.

What about us? And what do we do? During the first quarantine, we were intimidated by coffins, bulldozers and mass graves. Well, it doesn’t work, and that’s it! Therefore, now that we are finally not moving, we are drawn to Santas Barbaras. For example, what Megan Markl and the very obedient wife of Prince Harry said about the monarchy of the United Kingdom. And how does Prince Philip feel in the hospital? And what does the queen think? And what do the courtiers think? And what do Obama and Opra think? This is the world covered by the pandemic, and with it, Lithuanians are separated from personal survival issues. Well, what made that pandemic a profit? Importantly, Prince Charles stopped funding Prince Harry. Well, how will that poor millionaire survive now? Especially when a person is waiting. A greater tragedy than a kebab that was ruined during a pandemic.

Another issue is to get vaccinated or not? And if you are vaccinated, what is the vaccine? Although the kings of the dramas successfully faint, “die”, escalate from all vaccines. Even the placebo. But a person always believes that for him, unfortunately, something necessarily crumbles something bad. And someone gets the best, the poor. And that ? can!

I really don’t believe that pharmaceutical giants are specifically developing vaccines to poison humanity and heads of state are buying them to poison their citizens. With the rise of vaccines on the vaccine market, each manufacturer is more likely to try to downplay or even compromise other manufacturers. About the competition. Perhaps that is why the British vaccine suddenly became dangerous, even though 17 million Britons who had already been vaccinated had not died from it. If states are involved in cucumber wars, why not penalize Britons who have left the EU for rejecting their vaccine? That suited everyone when there were fewer options.

However, we, restricted by quarantines, movement bans, are at least diverting our attention from the Istanbul Convention, from the legalization of homogeneous associations … to a vial of vaccine! Well, let’s focus, let’s hypnotize! We are afraid! And the more people are afraid, the easier it will be for the government to control them. Move! Stream! Needs! Even next Easter! I see how all those contenders feel important and important. Leis-neleis. I will give, I will not give. I will give, I will not give. People who have never had their own personal business, without creating the added value of one euro, are calmly posting about the need to ban, prevent and ban again. Although all personal experience: gym, university, Seimas. Apparently providence, fortune or something transcendent, specifically sent a pandemic to the world. For people to see how limited people are holding, controlling and controlling them.