The spread of the coronavirus continues unabated in Lithuania, with 897 new infections reported on Tuesday. Five people died of Covid-19 over Monday, according to the National Public Health Centre (NVSC).

Fewer people were tested over the last days, with 4,993 tests performed on Monday, which was a public holiday. Eighteen percent of them came in positive.

In all, Lithuania has confirmed 17,453 cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, 12,283 of them remain classified as active cases.

At the moment, 34,794 people in the country are in isolation.

Lithuania’s coronavirus death toll currently stands at 175.

As of Tuesday, the country’s cumulative 14-day infection count is 293.4 per 100,000 people.

The Lithuanian government will decide on Wednesday whether to introduce a nationwide quarantine for at least three weeks starting on Saturday, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Tuesday.

“We will propose tomorrow that the government introduce a nationwide quarantine at the end of the week, most probably from midnight on Saturday,” he said after a meeting of the government’s Covid-19 response committee.

Thirty-four of Lithuania’s 60 municipalities are currently in the so-called ‘red zone’ with high Covid-19 infection rates and 21 are under local quarantines.

Lithuania’s 14-day coronavirus incidence rate currently stands at almost 300 cases per 100,000 people. The country’s daily count surged above 1,000 for the first time last weekend.

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