Veryga: I wouldn’t rush with the third wave announcement, but one reason is obvious to me

“Definitely now”

The Department of Statistics warned this Monday that the third wave of the spread of the coronavirus in the country is currently beginning.

“It seems that we are initiating the third wave of the pandemic. Lithuania’s trajectory has turned upside down in the space of two pandemic indicators and has returned to the old tracks that it was driving in October,” the report issued on Monday reads.

According to the Department of Statistics, the number of new daily cases is no longer decreasing, the proportion (percentage) of positive diagnostic tests is growing.

“This pattern has been going on for a whole week, but now there is no question about it,” the report said.

Veryga mentioned several possible reasons

Former Minister of Health, member of the Seimas and member of the Health Affairs Committee A. Veryga Delphi He said he didn’t want to talk about a possible third wave just yet.

“I would not be so brave to say it yet, we see that the number of investigations has decreased. (…) I don’t know if it is already possible to talk about some waves here. The other thing that there are a lot of analysts now is that they may hang their heads and present what is currently being studied: preventive treatment facilities. So maybe it’s a little clearer where those numbers are growing, and at whose expense. Because the total number is very uninformative, considering that the number of subjects has decreased significantly, ”said Seimas member A. Veryga on Monday morning.

The warning about a possible third wave should not be linked to the opening of businesses a week ago, said A. Veryga.

“It just came to our attention then. If it’s some kind of wave, I don’t associate it with that. And with fatigue and the fact that people no longer meet the requirements. What we’ve said before is that those companies That it has been very difficult for them to survive are not meeting the requirements when starting a business.

Although the service sector is also a hairdresser walking around the house, a trade has started in the shadows, where neither the distances nor the required space have been assigned to a single buyer. Perhaps that worries me more, because there is no other explanation, ”said the former Minister of Health.

A. Veryga also mentioned the spread of new varieties in Lithuania as another possible reason for the slowdown. However, there is no evidence to support this. Only news of a nationally confirmed case of a UK coronavirus strain.

Former Minister of Health Delphi He said that people need good knowledge.

“We need something that gives us some hope and certainty. Because if you know you need to mobilize up to a certain point, up to a certain time. And when you are sure that when that moment comes you can relax and rest, allow yourself more, mobilize people. And it allows you to remove the tension, then you are preparing, you know and you are in the mood ”, he assured.

A. Veryga criticized the different signals from the Government observed so far.

“Not only children, but also adults are people, they are very demoralized. So, it seems, fatalism emerges in the same way, as long as we are closed here. Next time, sometimes even irrational optimism arises: vaccines, as they exist, but drugs, treatments have emerged. Perhaps people are beginning to think that they will still get sick, or vaccines have emerged, this virus will spread less. There are many nuances that work ”, assured the parliamentarian.

It is necessary to measure the temperature of society.

Interviewer A. Veryga assured that “public temperature” must be measured continuously.

“It just came to our knowledge then. And those limits are apparently different in each country. We as a nation are very patient, calm. There are countries where there are fewer patient people, and there have been protests, breaking windows. We didn’t have them, thank God. “But it cannot be ruled out that they may occur when people get tired. Let’s see those messages for companies that do not receive help, packages, something that they do not appreciate. The government must feel and react to these tensions,” explained A. Veryga.

He agreed that the government is in an unenviable situation at the moment, but the contact with a possible third wave of coronavirus is quite different.

“Let’s keep in mind that the context is changing. And with vaccines replacing it, the same treatment facilities are operating more stably, so more coronavirus patients have more than usual, but no more vaccinated doctors. There is already one thing here. There are many more equal tools that allow protection, it is necessary to use them. It is not exactly like in spring, when we did not know anything, “recalled the politician.

The former health minister said that the government now has much freer hands to make the necessary decisions, guided by facts but not by guesswork.

“There is incomparably more hope”, Delphi A. Veryga said.

According to Monday, 100 thousand. The population of Lithuania has 242.9 cases in 14 days, the proportion of positive tests is 7.8%. 263 new cases, 6 new deaths in the last day.