Remigijus Šimašius offers a 7-point plan to manage a coronavirus pandemic

According to the mayor of the capital, the Vilnius city municipality has analyzed the restrictions of 20 different European and global countries aimed at stopping the development of the COVID-19 virus, which, according to R. Šimašius, helped the municipal administration to remove conclusions and present proposals.

“Today we have a sad history of COVID-19 cases – more than 1000. Forecasts say that we can reach 1500-2000 next week, and the moment is very thankless – the outgoing government will probably not be able to find effective solutions, the new cabinet will have to wait and the president The fruits of the work of the commission of experts created at the initiative of 2006 will probably become clear only after a week or two, ”writes R. Šimašius.

The first point of your published plan is a plan for the restriction of security levels 5, defining clear criteria on when the first, second and greatest restriction apply in the city.

“Both residents and businesses will be able to predict what new restrictions are possible if the situation continues to deteriorate. And on the other hand, as the situation improves, everyone will clearly know which restrictions will be lifted first. At the same time, it can act as a measure. preventive – stop blaming people for not doing something, give them all the information about what other restrictions await them at the next level of security so that we can all feel responsible and decide – we want to change our habits temporarily or we are determined to accept the new restrictions ”Says the mayor of Vilnius.

According to R. Šimašius, on some level a curfew can be foreseen. The second point of the plan proposed by the mayor is the coherence of the restrictions.

“If we restrict the chess club and do not allow more than 5 people to gather, but at the same time allow thousands to enter the arenas (until yesterday, but today we still allow hundreds), we must understand that such ambiguous restrictions destroy all the system, “said the mayor. emphasizing that the new duration of the new restrictions should be publicly discussed.

The mayor of Vilnius in the third point proposes not to close the educational institutions, because, according to him, “we all understand that their closure would also restrict telework, so we would have even more painful consequences for the economy.” According to R. Šimašius, the coronavirus outbreaks that have appeared in the education system may be temporarily “closed”, but not the entire system.

“There are also questions about the limitations of non-formal education in Lithuania: we have to evaluate different activities separately, as other countries have done, and first limit groups with physical or riskier contacts (unfortunately, for example, the choir is classified as such), but if “Let them act”, writes R. Šimašius.

It also proposes to introduce only real and reasonable restrictions that are clear and easy to implement. At the same time, it is proposed to finally complete the development and launch of the contact tracking mobile application. According to the mayor, the app would help the staff of the National Public Health Center (NVSC).

“Lithuania has been creating it since spring, the last public promise from the NVSC was heard: the application will appear at the end of September. Unfortunately, we do not have it yet. The vast majority of European countries have applications of this type, they all work with the same principle: record contacts via bluetooth. This is not a miracle elixir, but seeing how we are late to inform those who have had contact with the infected person about the necessary self-isolation, this technology would help to eliminate a large part of the NVSC workload breaking, ”says R. Šimašius.

The mayor of Vilnius, in the sixth point of the announced plan, calls for a clear communication of the importance of the population restrictions, and in the last point, he calls for the suspension of unnecessary planned operations and thus mobilize the medical reserve.

“These 7 proposals can be implemented very quickly; the most important thing is to respond effectively to the changing situation. President, Prime Minister, Minister and future Prime Minister, I ask everyone to shrug their shoulders, share information, listen to suggestions and take action. We all have to concentrate, otherwise we will have the Czech Republic at Christmas, ”added R. Šimašius.