Covid cases decrease and vaccinations continue, but two more deaths confirmed

The Gibraltar Government confirmed two further deaths from Covid-19 on Monday, despite active cases continuing to decrease.

The deaths mark the aftermath of a staggering surge in cases during the festive period.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo lamented the deaths, but added there is some light with cases decreasing and the vaccination program now well under way.

Around a third of the local population, 10,341 people, have received their first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.

It is expected that people can begin to receive their second dose on February 1, depending on the arrival of a third batch of vaccines.

Gibraltar’s Covid-19 lockdown, introduced on January 2, has been taking effect.

Active cases peaked on January 8 with 1209 and, since then, cases have slowly decreased, but the aftermath of this sharp increase of cases continues to be bleak.

Of the total 65 deaths since the start of the pandemic, 58 died in the first 25 days of 2021, with seven deaths recorded throughout all last year.

Over the past week since Monday, January 18, 20 people have died from conditions related to Covid-19.

On Monday the Government confirmed the deaths of two local residents.

The first was a woman aged 75 to 80 years old, who had underlying health conditions and died of Covid-19 pneumonitis.

The second was a resident of Elderly Residential Services, a woman aged 85-90 years old, who had underlying health conditions and also died of Covid-19 pneumonia.

“[Monday’s] news of continued losses in our community is tragic and my deepest sympathies go to the families and friends of the deceased,” Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, said.

“Gibraltar has now administered the first dose of the vaccine to around a third of the population.”

“This is extremely welcome news and gives us some light in these dark days. My sincerest thanks go to everyone whose hard work has made this logistically very difficult task possible.”

“Please register for the vaccine if you haven’t already and accept it when it’s your turn. Until then, do your part by following the rules.”

“Stay at home, wear a mask if you have to go out, wash your hands, and call 111 as soon as you notice symptoms.”

There are currently 121 positive cases in care, 67 in ERS, 44 in the Covid-19 Ward and 10 in the Critical Care Unit.

Over 150,000 tests have been carried out since the pandemic began and almost 4,000 cases have been confirmed.

Some 26 new cases were detected on Monday, and another 73 recovered.

Of the 25 new resident cases in Gibraltar, 14 were close contacts of existing active cases.

Including cross-frontier workers, active cases stood at 578, of which 471 were local residents, 106 were cross-frontier workers and one was a visitor.

Currently 4.4% of the local population is either an active case or in self-isolation.

A total of 32,325 tests have been carried out so far in the frontline, targeted and systematic sampling.

Anyone wishing to be vaccinated should fill in this online form: https://www.gha.gi/covid-19-vaccination-interest-form

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