Govt confirms Covid death and cases decline

The Gibraltar Government confirmed a death from Covid-19, with cases continuing to slowly dip to 40.
The latest death is a woman aged 85 to 90 years, who was a resident of Elderly Residential Services.
‘This terrible news is a sad reminder as we begin to unlock of the worst consequences of Covid-19, and how horrible this virus can be over a long period of time,” Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said.
“My thoughts, as always, are with the family and friends of the deceased.”
The death toll now stands at 88.
The deceased had underlying health conditions and died on Wednesday of Covid-19 and severe frailty due to advanced dementia as agreed by the Medical Examiner.
She had tested positive for Covid-19 early in January and was no longer
infectious at the time of her death and had been recorded as ‘recovered’ in Gibraltar’s
statistics.
“Covid-19 can take a long time for its direct consequences, for example organ failure, to manifest themselves,” the Government said in a press statement.
“Therefore, whilst not recorded as an active or positive case within ERS, because the deceased died as a direct consequence of Covid-19, this will be recorded in [Thursday’s] statistics as a death from Covid-19.”
Mr Fabian Picardo reminded the public to follow public health guidelines.
“Remember that even with our successful vaccination programme underway and restrictions beginning to loosen, it is as important as ever to follow the best Public Health advice,” he said.
“Wear a mask in all public areas, wash your hands as often as you need to, keep a safe distance from others and call 111 at the first onset of symptoms.”

STATS
The number of active cases has continued to decline in recent weeks and on Thursday just one new case was detected from almost 1,500 tests.
The number of cases is now on par with those recorded prior to the festive surge.
Gibraltar reported four recoveries on Thursday, 40 active cases and 101 people in self-isolation.
There are currently six people in the Covid-19 Ward, five in the Critical Care Unit and one in ERS.
Some 531 second doses and 123 first doses were administered on Thursday.
Overall, 11,303 people have been fully inoculated with the two doses and a further 5,081 have received their first dose.

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