VILNIUS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- People entering Lithuania from non-OECD (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries will be subject to mandatory COVID-19 testing and two-week self-isolation, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Thursday.
The decision was adopted by the government due to a new outbreak of coronavirus in Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas, where 19 coronavirus cases have been registered at an international road freight transport company. Most of the infected are long-haul drivers from Uzbekistan who came to Kaunas for being employed at the company earlier this month.
"The case in Kaunas with infected persons from Uzbekistan involved has shown that we need to improve the procedure for foreigners to come to Lithuania. The decision is: people coming from so-called third countries which do not belong to the OECD, will be subject to mandatory testing for COVID-19 and two-weeks self-isolation," Skvernelis wrote on Facebook.
The decision was approved by the government on Thursday.
Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga is authorized to approve a list of specific countries from which arrivals will be subject to additional restrictive measures. An updated list will be published in the upcoming days, the government said.
A new coronavirus hotspot in Kaunas was registered back on Tuesday. Currently, the infected people are isolated, said the Health Ministry. Any potential contacts with the infected foreigners are being traced.
According to the ministry, Lithuania had registered 1,902 COVID-19 cases by Thursday morning. To date, 79 people have died of the coronavirus and 1,593 have recovered. Enditem
