Veryga: It will be proposed to continue the quarantine until mid-December

A. Veryga and Daiva Razmuvienė, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Public Health (NVSC), told the press conference why this happened and what is being done to control the situation on Monday.

The week will be critical

According to the acting minister, scientists predict that we should have reached the peak of coronavirus cases, about 2,200 cases per day, at this time.

“If the quarantine works, maybe we should see some different dynamics at the end of the week, maybe a decrease. This week is apparently going to be a critical week that will show how the situation is changing.” What we see from other countries that have quarantined before, Ireland, Israel, we can still see that the third week was critical, when it was possible to assess how the situation is changing, “explained A. Veryga.

According to the acting minister, scientists predict that we should have reached the peak of coronavirus cases, about 2,200 cases per day, at this time.

“If the quarantine works, maybe we should see some different dynamics by the end of the week, maybe a decrease. This week will apparently be a critical week that will show how the situation is changing.” What we are seeing from other countries that have applied the quarantine before, Ireland, Israel, we can still see that the third week was critical, when it was possible to assess how the situation is changing, “said A. Veryga.

The quarantine will continue

Veryga also said that he would intend to continue the quarantine until at least mid-December.

“The issue of extending the quarantine was also considered. Our proposal was to continue the quarantine until December 31, and after discussions in the COVID-19 Steering Committee, it was decided that the Government would propose on Wednesday that it continue until December 16. and December 17. And then the new government will decide whether to extend it or not, ”said A. Veryga.

“There were no discussions about the change of special quarantine conditions, there were some suggestions to make it easier for the Ministry of Culture to visit museums. But again, it was decided to wait until Wednesday and not yet accept such proposals,” said the acting head of the Ministry of Health (SAM).

A. Veryga urged not to plan the New Year’s celebration among friends, because the epidemiological situation is currently unfavorable for that.

Why is quarantine not working?

According to A. Veryga, the fact that the situation does not improve so suddenly is not an indication that the quarantine was introduced late.

“We have mentioned many times why one or another strategy was chosen, without quarantine, trying to deal with local measures. Unfortunately, it turned out that they did not work, not only in Lithuania, but also in other countries. This week it will be essential when we can say what effect the quarantine that was applied has had, “said A. Veryga.

When asked by the minister why the quarantine does not stop the spread of the virus and new cases are still being detected after a couple thousand a day, the acting minister replied that this is due to the incubation period of the virus.

“Some of those who are already infected do not feel any symptoms at first and do not know they are infected. What’s more, two-thirds of people with the virus, as a summer study has shown, feel no symptoms and can spread the disease. It takes 2 weeks to see the peak of the virus spread. During that time, those who have already been infected with the virus become apparent. Another nuance, by restricting public life, working directly, people have returned to families and now we have a series of family fireplaces. The disease moved home, which could have caused an increase in those 2 weeks, ”said the acting head of SAM.

He explained why it was logical to suspend the Seimas sessions for two weeks.

When the acting minister asked if it was the right decision to adjourn the Seimas for only one week, A. Veryga replied that the 2-week period has an epidemiological logic. This is the incubation period of the virus, during which, according to the interim minister, it would be logical not to continue the work of the Seimas.

“Clearly, there are complex issues like the budget, the approval of the Prime Minister and the like. It is good that the Seimas has decided to suspend the work for at least a week, which is a positive step,” said A. Veryga.

The acting head of SAM also added that Seimas members are not subject to any other procedures due to isolation: if a Seimas member had a high-risk contact, they must isolate themselves and the Seimas Board cannot adopt its own rules.

Half of the infections and deaths have been in the last two weeks.

D. Razmuvienė noted that half of the 48 thousand. Almost half of the registered cases of coronavirus: 25 thousand. 448 cases have been registered in the last two weeks. Most of the cases have recently been registered in the Vilnius region. Kaunas remains in second place.

One in five patients, according to the epidemiologist, is over 50 years old. About 18 percent. the number of infected people was between 40 and 48 years old. About 16 percent. – 30-39 years.

“The age of the sick is getting younger,” said D. Razmuvienė.

It is observed that during these weeks of quarantine, the main vectors of the disease are people of working age, since they are mobile and travel to shops, meetings.

In the last two weeks, half of the deaths from coronavirus have been registered in Lithuania. In Lithuania a total of 386 deaths were recorded. 200 of them, in the last two weeks.

The highest number of deaths occurs in the age group 80 to 89 years, 54 people died between the ages of 70 and 79 and the remaining deaths were younger.

Most of the deaths, according to the epidemiologist, were infected during treatment, nursing homes and the domestic environment.

Given that the incidence of the coronavirus in the elderly has increased dramatically since November 1, and their mortality has now increased, before the holidays, the acting minister called for reflection: “Is it not our desire to be in the common party table too high for the lives of some people?

Why are we moving up to fifth place in morbidity?

Information is shared on social media that Lithuania ranks fifth in Europe in terms of morbidity. According to A. Veryga, this was due to our intense movement and communication.

Regarding the extension of the quarantine until December 31, our arguments were very simple, which would include the festive period, which would allow us to send a clearer message to those who plan several vacations, although, as we can see, the cities are already planning to abandon Christmas fairs and events. A. Veryga said.

At the same time, the Minister recalled that the purchase of another CureVac vaccine was approved at the COVID-19 management meeting on Monday. Lithuania should need 1.4 million. dose.

There are currently 700 outbreaks

Currently, there are around 700 active outbreaks in Lithuania, according to D. Razmuvienė. 150 of these are family cases.

Compared to September, the number of new coronavirus cases in companies and organizations has decreased significantly, according to the epidemiologist. This was due to working remotely.

According to health experts, the information provided by the NVSC is delayed and not all outbreaks are tracked. Epidemiologist D. Razmuvienė responded to this statement with the question: who are the experts who can say it?

“As an epidemiologist at NVSC, I can say that all the work that the epidemiologist needs to do to examine the approach is being done. But it is necessary to understand such a thing that in the spring there were fewer chimneys and we still do not know everything about the virus. This is not an infection that the medical community has become accustomed to.

At the moment, for the experts whose competences I do not know, if they allow themselves to be judged in this way, that would be the only request to come to the NVSC, work and learn how people work intensively, investigating thousands of cases a day. If we compare it with Ireland, where there are 600 specialists, Lithuania currently employs a little more than 200 ”, said the epidemiologist.

A total of 1,629 people were hospitalized in hospitals this morning. The resuscitation and intensive care units treat 126 patients, 73 patients receive artificial pulmonary ventilation and 887 patients with oxygen masks.