Main Street mask requirement ends as from Sunday

Masks will no longer be compulsory outdoors on Main Street and its surrounding streets as from 11.59pm on Saturday night, the Gibraltar Government said as it announced further easing of Covid-19 restrictions.

The decision on masks was taken on Public Health advice and comes as most of the adult population is vaccinated and cases remain low.

There are currently no active cases of Covid-19 in St Bernard’s Hospital or in Elderly Residential Services, and no new cases were reported on Wednesday.

In addition, effective on Thursday night, bars and restaurants will be permitted to remain open until 2am.

The ban on the consumption of alcohol in public places, meaning outside licensed premises, will continue to be in effect from 7pm to 8am nightly.

This does not apply to the outside area of a bar or restaurant as these areas are included in the demise of the licensed premises.

Although the requirement for masks on Main Street and surrounding streets will be lifted on Saturday night – they remain compulsory throughout Saturday, the government stressed – masks will continue to be obligatory in enclosed public spaces, shops and on public transport.

As announced in Parliament, the curfew will end on Thursday, meaning that there will be no curfew in place on Thursday night going into Friday morning.

The Government welcomed being able to lift this restriction in time for the upcoming Passover and Easter celebrations, which are important to many members of the community.

“As a result of the successful vaccination programme and our community following the rules, our numbers of positive cases are now extremely low,” said Samantha Sacramento, the Minister for Civil Contingencies.

“Tomorrow [meaning Thursday], another of the Covid-19 restrictions will be relaxed as the midnight curfew is deemed no longer to be necessary.”

“The public are nevertheless reminded to continue to follow public health advice and guidance so that we can continue to keep the numbers down.”

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo added: “We are at last leaving behind us our deadliest winter and entering our most hopeful spring.”

“The global pandemic isn’t entirely behind us and we must all move forward carefully to safeguard this incredible progress in the weeks and months ahead.”

I look forward to shortly being able to lift the restrictions on the freedom of assembly as we remove all restraints on our hard won civil liberties, but doing so in keeping with public health advice and in a safe and prudent manner.’