Quarantine – Until Jan 31 – Stores to Close, Unnecessary Movement Prohibited

From December 15 at 24:00. Until January 3, the departure of people outside the territory of the municipality of their place of residence will be restricted, except in cases of death due to the death of close relatives or work when the place of employment is in another municipality, or for medical assistance necessary. This single ban is valid for a shorter period, until January 3, not January 31.

Close contacts of more than one family or household are prohibited.

“What we see is that there is no safe place in Lithuania,” Prime Minister I. Šimonytė said.

You can trade only with the necessary goods

All stores that do not provide food, veterinary, pharmacy, optical items and orthopedic technical equipment will be closed.

However, there is no longer a parking restriction – the previous restriction, which allowed stores to use only 20 percent of parking spaces, was lifted. There is also a slightly lower space requirement per person: 10 square meters.

Will be able to work dentists, However will have to close beauty salons and hairdressersconfirmed Rasa Jakilaitienė, representative of the Prime Minister. All contact services, with some exceptions, will have to be suspended, and individual sports training with a coach will no longer be possible, only high-skill sports exercises.

Movement restrictions

It is also forbidden to move inside or outside the municipality of residence for unnecessary reasons.

It is forbidden to leave the place of residence, except to go to work, the place of sale. Such decisions are written in a government resolution that is currently being considered.

“The proposed principle: for communication to remain within a family, there are also important changes that are associated with moving to places where some type of contact or larger meetings is possible. Here, in one case, we propose to take advantage of the experience that was in the spring during the Easter period, when there was a restriction of movement between municipalities ”, said the new Prime Minister I. Šimonytė and appointed that families should not leave their place of residence unless it is necessary to buy food, medicine or other essential items or to enter their property, to attend a funeral.

Members of the government emphasized that various personal celebrations or any other gathering should now be postponed.

“We cannot just ban funerals, because this is the sad reality of life, and especially recently, it has become infamous,” said I. Šimonytė.

Long distance education

Preschool, preschool and primary education should be delivered at a distance.

“Now the situation with educational institutions is a little simpler, because children who are in primary education are released during the holidays and we are not going to have conversations about schools for at least a few weeks,” said I. Šimonytė.

I. Šimonytė explained that Preschool education can be continued when compulsory..

“If there are parents or guardians who do not have the opportunity to work remotely, or compulsory preschool education, then preschool educational institutions are open,” explained I. Šimonytė, adding that this is important for doctors, policemen, etc. .

Municipal administrations must provide institutional education to children whose parents do not have the opportunity to work remotely.

Until the end of January

Quarantine extended until January 31. These changes will take effect Wednesday December 16.

“Although this seems like a fairly long period, according to the experts, a period of 5-7 weeks is desirable and in my opinion it is better to have the maximum period immediately, so to speak, under such uncertain conditions,” said I. Šimonytė and He explained that the deadline will be revised in light of the new circumstances.

Stricter restrictions are also imposed on individuals and companies providing accommodation services, as such services will no longer be possible.

“The premises destined to the provision of accommodation services in a rental, subletting or use regime may only be used for the self-isolation of people,” the draft resolution states.

the main objective

At a government meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė named the main target of the resolution.

“The goal is to reduce the number of contacts. Therefore, the previous government decision on contacts between the two households is modified. And the principle is proposed that communication should remain within a single family, ”said the Prime Minister.

He stressed that the Government did not have the possibility to introduce a state of emergency and curfew, as the Seimas decided on this.

The activities of psychologists will be allowed not only remotely, but also by contact.

Professor Laimonas Griškevičius presented that with the number of new COVID-19 cases increasing by 3,000 per day, there are currently 500-700 additional active treatment beds and 50-70 intensive care beds.

“Today, half of Lithuania’s population is dying than usual, last week’s figures show, and the COVID-19 statistics do not reflect this. People are dying because they do not receive help at home, the system health is blocked, ”said the Minister of the Environment, Simonas Gentvilas.

The government started work on Friday

The government consulted with experts for two days on the new measures. After the consultations, on Sunday, after 5.30 pm, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė will preside over the first meeting of the new Government, which is extraordinary.

The only topic of the meeting was the amendment of the Government Resolution “On the announcement of quarantine on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania”. The start of the meeting, which was originally scheduled for 3 pm, was postponed several times later. The final draft resolution was prepared before the start of the meeting.

The new Minister of Health Arūnas Dulkys assured this Friday that the implementation of a state of emergency, which would allow the adoption of the strictest restrictions, would be the worst scenario to come. A goal of no more than 200 new COVID-19 cases per day has been set. Experts suggested that the government take “serious measures at the national level.”

It has already been reported in the media that the government may consider introducing a curfew, but to implement such a measure, a decision must be made in the Seimas to declare a state of emergency. However, there is no such decision in the ruling.

Unclear pathways of the virus

On December 3, Prime Minister I. Šimonytė criticized the National Center for Public Health.

“The institution was able to prepare for the second wave during the summer, to strengthen its processes, data exchange, data analysis so that politicians can make decisions based on data, not numbers, that did not happen,” said I. Šimonytė a journalists at the Seimas.

He explained that politicians do not know which solutions would be most effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19 because they do not know where the virus is most prevalent.

“The worst part is that we don’t know what decisions can be made because we don’t know where the main sources of infection are. The interim minister says everywhere, but that’s the same everywhere as nowhere, ”said I. Šimonytė.

Since the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 has infected 93,000 people in the country. 101 people, 52 thousand. 994 – still sick, 38 thousand. 893 – recovered, and the number of new cases reported on Sunday alone reaches 2,849, 24 deaths were recorded per day, the Department of Statistics reported.