The cherry blossom park in the capital has been closed due to the large flow of people, Adomas Bužinskas, deputy director of the Vilnius municipality administration, confirmed to BNS.
"We saw that before the sakura blossomed, people started walking and driving in huge streams. And even though the flows are different from what we normally see each year, they are still huge. (…) We decided to fence off the park so that there would be no temptations," A. Bužinskas told BNS on Saturday.
According to him, the municipality of the capital sensed that this place could become an object of attraction, but at first, milder restriction measures were applied, hoping that people would be understanding and not go to the park.
"At first, we put up warning signs, we prepared a live broadcast on the Internet, we posted a lot of messages in the public space, in order to make people aware that they should not go and take pictures with sakura trees, because it will be possible to do that next year as well," said A. Bužinskas.
According to the deputy director of the municipal administration, "thousands of people" visited the park in recent days.
"There is no risk when parents take pictures with their children, the biggest problem is when there are thousands of such people, then quarantine loses its meaning, and all efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus are wasted", said A. Bužinskas.
"I was there a while ago when the park was being fenced off, there were still a few dozen people, like 40-50 really," he added.
According to A. Bužinskas, the park will remain closed until the cherry blossoms finish blooming - at least another two weeks.
Quarantine was introduced in Lithuania on March 16 and is currently extended until April 27. During it, schools, kindergartens and universities are closed, most shops and cafes are closed.
Gatherings of more than two people, except for family members, are also prohibited.
Police and other services announce that they have strengthened vigilance in public spaces, officials are paying more attention to checking how residents who have returned from abroad or had contact with people with the coronavirus infection comply with the mandatory two-week quarantine.
For violating the quarantine rules, people face fines from 500 to 1500 euros, companies - from 1500 to 6000 euros.
Author Augustas Stankevičius
