[ad_1]
“The resolution is valid until March 31. I have no doubt that it will be necessary to extend the resolution,” he told LRT radio on Tuesday.
“Under what conditions will depend largely on what the situation will be like this week,” he said.
According to I. Šimonytė, it is planned to return primary school children to school next week, increasing the risk that the incidence of the coronavirus will increase.
According to the head of Government, the current situation of the coronavirus does not give reason for great optimism.
“There are municipalities where the situation is significantly better, and if it does not get worse, those municipalities may be freer in terms of Easter restrictions, but it would be irresponsible for me to promise something today,” said I. Šimonytė.
The Prime Minister also claimed that the three-month movement restriction between municipalities in Lithuania had made it possible to halt the spread of a dangerous and more contagious strain of British COVID-19.
“I think the restrictions on circulation were a key factor that allowed us to prevent the spread of this strain in January and February. Consequently, we have been buying with these restrictions for some time, although it generates some inconveniences ”, said the Head of Government.
He said that the mayors of Klaipėda and Neringa, who criticized the government’s decision to ban 16 more municipalities from moving, could step up testing and get out of the so-called dark red zone.
The municipalities are marked in dark red, where in 14 days 100 thousand. 300-500 new cases of COVID-19 were registered in the population.
“The municipalities of Klaipėda and Neringa are the two municipalities in which the probability of leaving that dark red zone is not so low and what the municipalities can do is quickly tested and they are given those powers and some municipalities do it in a way. intensive. I think there is a possibility that those municipalities do not need movement restrictions, ”said I. Šimonytė.
“However, the situation in eastern Lithuania and around Marijampolė certainly does not look as promising as in western Lithuania. I believe that these movement restrictions here will allow the rest of Lithuania to prevent the wider spread of that new strain and go back to the dark red zone, ”said the Prime Minister.
There are still restrictions on the movement of the population in 16 municipalities
The news portal tv3.lt recalls that as of Tuesday, Lithuanian residents can move freely between most of the country’s municipalities, but the movement restriction has been extended to sixteen municipalities. Among them, the city and district of Vilnius, Klaipeda, the city and district of Panevezys.
The government has decided that the restriction will apply to those municipalities where the incidence of Covid-19 in the last 14 days exceeds 200 cases per 100,000. population.
As of March 16, people will not be able to enter or leave the following municipalities without an important reason: Biržai district, Klaipėda city, Kupiškis district, Marijampolė, Neringa, Panevėžys city, Panevėžys district, Šalčininkai district , Širvintos district, Švenčionys district, Trakai district, Utena district, Varėna district, Vilnius city, Vilnius district, Visaginas.
“The proposal is to change the restriction on the movement of people between municipalities by stipulating that from March 16 to 31, movement between those municipalities where the 14-day incidence rate of Covid-19 is greater than 200 cases will be restricted.
This would mean that people are prohibited from entering and leaving these municipalities, ”said Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys at the government meeting on Monday.
Disability restriction to people who travel to the municipality of their residence, to another municipality for work reasons, to the death of close relatives, to or from international passenger routes to or from airports, seaports, bus stations, for services of health.
Residents can also move between the city and the Klaipeda district, the city and the Panevezys district, the city and the Vilnius district, when people move between the indicated adjacent municipalities.
This restriction does not apply to members of the same family or household who move to a municipality other than their own, where they have a property.
You want to buy time
According to Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, these restrictions allow to buy time in Lithuania by spreading the “British” variety, so that more people at risk can be vaccinated, in addition, opening more activities.
“If someone asks who needs to buy that time, it is probably time to earn more for vaccination. Now we are only vaccinating those people whose risk of dying or becoming seriously ill from COVID is the highest,” I. Šimonytė said at the meeting .
“People want and we want these restrictions to be less, on the other hand, we objectively see that in other countries, which may have been too hasty with their decisions, the situation today is worse than expected and many explanations can be given. to this mutation, “he added.”
According to the Prime Minister, the data shows that the improvement of the situation has stopped at this time and this coincides with the expansion of the “British” variety.
The list of establishments located in enclosed spaces, including zoos and botanical gardens, has also been clarified.
[ad_2]
