Veryga: the chimney at the Seimas is expanding, action must be taken immediately

A. Veryga, Chief Specialist of the Infectious Disease Management Division of the National Center for Public Health (NVSC) Greta Gargasienė, Head of the Infectious Diseases Corps of the Santara Clinics and Professor Ligita Jančorien spoke about the growth of these cases and the latest current affairs related to the coronavirus Estela Tamašauskienė, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Kaunas Hospital.

A fireplace that expands

The interim minister began the press conference with the announcement of a formal speech to the ruling leaders of the Seimas and offered the assistance of the Ministry of Health (SAM) and the NVSC to control the spread of the coronavirus in the Seimas.

“This situation, which is now in the Seimas, can be unequivocally called a chimney that expands every day,” noted A. Veryga.

According to the interim minister, action should be taken immediately and the work of the Seimas suspended for at least a couple of weeks with no exceptions.

“There should be no speculation about teleworking or the like, which would still need to be adopted at the Seimas and would take time. The Seimas certainly cannot organize plenary sessions and other work for a couple of weeks. The most important thing now is the isolation of sick people and those who have been in contact with them, “warned the acting head of SAM.

Isolation should last the entire incubation period until all infected people clear up.

“No solution is the pre-meeting tests, because during a certain period of time, as has been said many times, even with a negative test, a person can be infected. The ruling majority has repeatedly emphasized that it has a plan to control the coronavirus in Lithuania. I want to invite you to start from the fireplace control at Seimas, ”said A. Veryga.

According to the acting minister, two weeks would be enough time to control and locate the chimney.

“We should cooperate with NVSC, epidemiologists. There is a clear recommendation: stop working for two weeks until the chimney is controlled,” stressed A. Veryga.

The acting minister criticized the irresponsible behavior of those who work in parliament.

“What I would like to emphasize is that irresponsible behavior and even knowing that the disease is spreading, that many people had contacts that were avoided, both the Lithuanian and Polish presidents were invited to Parliament, which is a very irresponsible behavior not only in Lithuania, but also in the international context ”, said A. Veryga indignantly.

When asked by journalists how the interim minister assesses the idea of ​​establishing a mobile checkpoint in the Seimas, A. Veryga replied that this is being decided by the Vilnius municipality, but that the tests will no longer solve this problem.

“The spread of the virus is not stopped with tests, but with the lack of contacts. The mobile point is good, but it will not solve this situation,” said A. Veryga.

Tests can be confusing too

According to the member of the Seimas Rimantė Šalaševičiūtė, who was initially diagnosed with a coronavirus and later the diagnosis was denied by two tests, 2 percent. the tests are wrong.

According to A. Veryga, the tests can be both false positives and false negatives.

“So far no one has found anything better. In the case of my colleague Rimante, it is possible that the test was false positive, then 2 were negative. It is possible that the test does not detect the virus when the person is already infected. But these are very rare cases, “said A. Veryga.

Veryga: the quarantine is working

When journalists doubted that, given the number of new cases, the quarantine was working, Mr. Veryga replied: “I think the quarantine is working. We do not want everything to return to normal in a week or two, because many people are infected, many do not know that they are infected and they transmit the disease. The numbers we see now are very similar to the previous numbers.

They no longer double as usual last week. This means that the quarantine works, it gives its effect. Whether it is enough or not will have to wait a little longer. If the numbers fall, it will probably be enough, if the numbers remain the same, measures will have to be tightened.

He joked that the protesters would freak out over the 5G tower.

When Veryga asked her what she thought about the weekend’s protest before the Seimas for the use of masks, the acting minister replied that citizens cannot be prohibited from expressing their opinions in a democracy, but recalled that the quarantine requirements still have to be met. . If there are more than 5 people, a distance of at least 2 meters must be kept, everyone must wear masks.

“I will say jokingly that probably in those places [kur rinksis protestuotojai] we will build a 5G tower and we hope that nobody will gather there, ”joked the interim minister.

How long can an infected person transmit the virus?

Professor L. Jančorienė specified how long a person can transmit the virus to others.

“Now it has been clarified how long a person is infected and spreads the virus. That time for patients with mild form is 10 days from the onset of the disease, if a person is diagnosed with an asymptomatic coronavirus infection, that is , 10 days after testing, then there is no evidence that a viable virus can be detected.

If the patient has a severe form of the disease or the patient is in a state of profound immunosuppression, that period may be longer, usually 20 days. After them, said patient can be treated at home or transferred to supportive care and nursing hospitals, ”said L. Jančorienė.

According to the doctor, patients are discharged home whenever possible due to the severe shortage of hospital beds.

There are 1501 people in hospitals

On the last day, a record number of new COVID-19 cases was registered in Lithuania: 2,272.

“Yesterday we registered more when people did not feel any symptoms. There were 58 of those people, “said G. Gargasienė, adding that symptoms may appear later.

According to an NVSC specialist, there are currently 1,501 people in hospitals, 117 in resuscitation and intensive care units, 71 in artificial lung ventilation and 78 in oxygen masks.

According to G. Gargasienė, people under 19 years of age currently represent 7.5 percent. 25.5% of patients between 20 and 35 years old, 47% between 36 and 60 years old, and 20% older than 61 years.

Professor L. Jančorienė said that 169 patients are treated in the Santara clinics alone, 34 of them in the Intensive Care and Resuscitation Unit. Children with COVID-19 in Santara clinics are in 3.

Another 230 patients are treated in support hospitals in the Vilnius region. The Vilnius City Clinical Hospital treats 126 patients, 4 of them in resuscitation. The Support Hospital is also the Vilnius Republican University Hospital; serves 18 patients. There are currently 44 patients in Alytus, 3 of them in resuscitation. There are 34 patients in Ukmergė. Molėtai and Druskininkai Hospitals also joined.

Hospitals house those who were infected before quarantine

According to L. Jančorienė, there are currently patients in hospitals who were infected before quarantine. And those who were already infected during the quarantine will only come to hospitals.

“We see patients arriving with serious illnesses in contact with their families, the chain continues. Once the quarantine requirements start, the results certainly won’t be noticed right away. I think it should continue and maybe there is an opportunity to adjust something somewhere, ”said L. Jančorienė.

Increasingly serious and younger patients are increasing

According to E. Tamašauskienė, currently 190 patients are being treated at LSMU Kaunas Hospital. In the resuscitation room, 9 patients, 5 with artificial lung ventilation, 4 applied the maximum amount of oxygen. 1 child is also being treated.

“Compared to the first wave, when we had lighter patients, the patients are really heavy right now. Recently, we have more and more serious patients and younger people between the ages of 40 and 50. That situation is complicated, it is also due to the illness of the staff, ”said E. Tamašauskienė.

Acquired 310 lung ventilators

A. Veryga also spoke about artificial lung ventilation devices. According to the acting head of SAM, since March 1, Lithuania has acquired 310 of these devices. Part of this team has already reached medical institutions.

According to the acting minister, it will be proposed that the Statistics Department publish data on the new morbidity figures.