Skvernelis: Lithuania likely to return to nationwide quarantine

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.

"It will be proposed 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.