Former PM Vilis Krištopans: In Latvia there have been more suicides than deaths from Covid-19
Entrepreneur and former Prime Minister Vilis Krištopans, who has been living in his country house in Nereta municipality for several years, reveals that such a place where one can peacefully distance oneself would be envied by both Spaniards and Italians. Krištopans actively follows the events in Latvia and in the world while doing the necessary work on the property and thinking about new projects.
Daily life in the countryside and big plans
Vilis Krištopans says that he participated in a golf tournament on November 28 and 29. One of his future plans is to build a new golf course. The other is possibly the construction of an ecovillage. Krištopans' daily life is spent in the countryside, where it is one kilometer to the nearest neighboring house. In a place where you can perfectly isolate, work is abundant, before winter you have to finish all the garden work. Vilis' regular sport activities are cycling. To keep in good physical shape, he rides his bike almost every day and has covered several thousand kilometers in total. As a cyclist, Krištopans is very angry about the repairs on Aleksandra Čaka Street, because the changes have not created improvements, but new shortcomings. As an example from which to learn, he cites Germany - Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt, where the sidewalk is strictly divided so that both pedestrians and cyclists can move around without hindrance.
"I wouldn't call it a pandemic"
Vilis Krištopans has not shied away from talking about very unpleasant Covid-19 scenarios that may materialize over time. He also talks about it with the Vakara Ziņas.
"I would not call it a pandemic. A pandemic is when thousands of people die on a day when everything is focused on saving and nothing is allowed to happen at all. First there is an epidemic and then a pandemic. We do not even have an epidemic. People invent and use words whose meanings they do not know. That’s how it is all over the world. And all this has been invented by politicians for fear that something will happen. That something bad will go down. Most people use masks only formally. They put on the one mask they have had since March, which contains all possible viruses, and then wonder how Covid-19 positive results are growing. It would be funny if it weren't so sad. Ideally, everyone should be given a disposable mask at the entrance, which is put on every time you enter a shop or board a trolleybus and thrown away when you go outside. Then there would be a point to it all. We do not live in an ideal world. The poor logger who has to buy bread - he puts on his dirty, half-year-old mask and walks into the store. What does that change?”
Elsewhere it is done differently
"Covid-19 is exaggerated in the world. For example, the tests are dubious and I still believe that they cannot really be believed. They are produced to be sold for big money. Also, the vaccine will be a huge business. In short, we suppress and destroy 90 percent of the lives to save the rest. They can be saved in another way, but at least let the others live. This is so noticable and wrong! In years to come, it will all come to light and many will be held accountable for their wrongdoing.
At the same time, acquaintances living in Stockholm found that cafes are open, masks are optional. Why have there been no fines in Sweden in eight months? Because there is nothing mandatory. The government is asking, the people are doing. 80 percent of the people believe in the government because there are discussions happening. The people trust the government because the government explains logically, not says: we are banning you from doing this starting from tomorrow. If you do not follow, we will punish you! We cannot cure you. We cannot help you economically. There is nothing we can do.
For Estonians, everything also happens much more sensibly. Maybe they will introduce masks this week. But it seems weird. In Lithuania using masks has been mandatory since July, and the situation is worse there than here. Logically, masks may be a den of virus, not salvation. The Swedish chief infectologist said: we cannot impose masks on people because then they will forget about distancing. The mask will not save anyone. Only those two meters can save, because it is a droplet infection.”
There is no Covid, but masks must be used
"For example, I live in Nereta municipality, and looking at the Covid-19 map, it turns out that there are zero positive cases here. Next to us - in Ērberģe - there is a shop where overthe time of time just a few days three policemen took the time to come check if everything was in order with masks. In a municipality where Covid-19 is not present at all! One buyer enters the store maybe every ten minutes. We don't have time to catch bicycle thieves and apartment burglars, but to check this we have time. In this municipality, just like in the center of Riga, everyone has to wear masks. Do you think they will love the government more for that?”
The vaccine is not a panacea
"Now everyone is waiting for the vaccine as some sort of panacea. I predict: a vaccine will appear and someone will earn billions on it. Everyone will get vaccinated and normal life will resume. Those who will have complications will have to blame themselves. When everything opens, a lot of people will pack up their suitcases again and leave. No miracles will happen. There will be another big wave of emigration. The vaccine will be like a placebo - the world will have a reason to open up everything. Thanks to this, perhaps the flow of tourists will begin. If all this does not happen, if the normal movement of people in the world does not resume in March and April, then we will simply be able to forget about airBaltic and the 250 million we have invested in it. There are people who want to travel and do travel now, in spite of everything.
But if the vaccine doesn't work, it will be severe. Of course, the virus will go away on its own. I think it will go away in two years. In the past, this has happened in 18 months. It is not for nothing that there are several studies in the European Union. One study found that 50 percent of small businesses will go bankrupt. I completely agree with that. What will those families do? Here in the countryside, a couple of private cafes have long been closed. But it was a family that could earn some money to take their children to school. How do they live now? There has been no help. There are thousands of such families. These are shattered dreams, unpaid credits, and broken lives. So far, 240 suicides have been committed in Latvia, which is more than the number of people killed by covid,” says Krištopans, who believes that we should think about how to allow people to return to normal life faster. However, he emphasizes that he is an optimist.
