Lithuanian parliament sets week-long recess as COVID-19 cases spike

Lithuania's parliament goes into a week-long hiatus from Tuesday to help contain the spread of COVID-19 among its members. The Baltic country's government is considering extending and tightening its COVID-19 lockdown by closing shopping centres as the current level of restrictions had done little to curb a second wave of the disease among the population.

Lithuania's parliament goes into a week-long hiatus from Tuesday to help contain the spread of COVID-19 among its members.

The Baltic country's government is considering extending and tightening its COVID-19 lockdown by closing shopping centres as the current level of restrictions had done little to curb a second wave of the disease among the population. The number of new COVID-19 infections in Lithuania more than doubled over the the past two weeks despite the lockdown that took effect on Nov. 3, when 316 cases per 100,000 people were registered over the preceding two weeks.

Authorities reported 788 cases per 100,000 on Sunday, a rise attributable due in part to delays in confirming pre-lockdown infections, making Lithuania the eighth worst-hit country in the 27-nation European Union, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. "Due to the worsening situation, we decided that after Tuesday's sitting, parliament will take a pause for a week," speaker Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen told reporters by videoconference on Monday.

She is among three lawmakers diagnosed with COVID-19, with at least 14 more members self-isolating after contact with an infected person since the newly elected, 141-member parliament first convened on Nov. 13. Neither the COVID-positive nor self-isolating lawmakers will attend Tuesday's sitting, Cmilyte's spokesman said.

The session is to vote in the new prime minister and discuss next year's budget, with all members asked to take COVID-19 tests on Monday ahead of the session. It will also vote on bills to allow parliament to sit remotely in future, Cmilyte said. The chamber's water coolers and smoking room will be closed off on Tuesday to discourage lawmakers from socialising without protective masks, she added.

Under the current lockdown, shops and services remain open though with caps on customer numbers, cafes and restaurants are limited to takeaway services, and working from home is compulsory for public enterprises.

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