The Lithuanian Armed Forces will assign military personnel to help the National Public Health Centre (NVSC) to contain the second wave of Covid-19.
"The Lithuanian Armed Forces are obliged by law to assist civilian institutions when they can no longer cope with the situation or do not have the capacity to do so," Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys said in a press release.
The National Public Health Centre has recently been overwhelmed with the rising number of Covid-19 cases, leaving the specialists unable to trace and inform the contacts of those infected. A number of employees have also recently quit, citing mounting pressure, low pay, and unlimited working hours.
Read more: Understaffed and overwhelmed: Lithuania's health officials struggle to contain pandemic
Rupšys discussed the assistance measures with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on Wednesday.
"I assured the president that we are ready to provide the necessary number of troops to assist the NVSC", he added.
Rolanda Lingienė, director of the NVSC Vilnius department, told BNS that they are now assessing the need for such support.
The NVSC Vilnius department currently has just 16 epidemiologists, each able to trace up to four cases a day.
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