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On Saturday, Professor Mindaugas Stankūnas posted a post about wearing medical masks on his Facebook account. It is claimed that a common position was formed at the meeting of the Council of Experts that the requirements for the use of masks may be changed as the situation improves.
“The improvement of the epidemiological situation of Lithuanian COVID-19 encourages the Government and the adjacent Council of Experts (ET) to increasingly review the current restrictions. You have all heard of this week’s decisions, so I will not repeat them. A meeting of the ET Quarantine Group took place last night to discuss the need for medical masks. The effectiveness of these particular masks is the benefit of wearing them outdoors when there are no other people around or these distances are large enough (2 meters and more). To better understand this issue, in addition to the ET members, we invited a representative from the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine from SAM, HI, LSMU and our dear colleague Rimas Jankūnas, who often speaks critically about the use of masks, to the meeting mentioned.
The discussion lasted around 2 pm, but there were no major objections. In practice, a common position has been formed that improving the epidemiological situation makes it possible to reduce the current requirements for the use of masks before use: 1) in all cases when we are indoors; 2) In open areas where a distance of at least 2 meters cannot be maintained. I think it is only a matter of time before this wording takes effect, “writes the professor.
It is true that he clarified when it would be possible to make such a decision.
„<...> Yesterday, during the meeting, it was said that after such consultations, the Quarantine Group formulates very concrete proposals for one or another solution. They are discussed in a meeting of the entire ET, which is also attended by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, SAM, representatives of the Government Chancellery, etc.
A protocol decision has already been made at this meeting, which must be approved / disapproved by the Government. ET meetings take place on Monday nights. Since next Monday is before February 16, we don’t. The next meeting will be in a week. It was decided that the Quarantine Group would meet again next week and propose very clear wording on this restriction.
I really want to believe that my colleague made this inadvertent communication error, and not a deliberate step of deception by discretizing the entire Council of Experts and the Government, ”says Professor M. Stankūnas.
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