Precautions tightened at Mount Alvernia after carer tests positive for Covid-19

Elderly Residential Services [ERS] has tightened precautions at Mount Alvernia after a carer tested positive for Covid-19.

The Gibraltar Government on Monday confirmed a carer working in the third floor of Mount Alvernia had tested positive, with the floor closed to visitors.

ERS swiftly moved to test all residents and staff, who all returned negative results.

The swabs will be repeated this week and the quarantine period will last for 10 days.

“Staff members considered as close contacts to the ‘positive carer’ were immediately sent home for self-isolation,” a spokesman for the Gibraltar Government said.

Residents identified as close contacts were transferred to isolation areas and the carer’s area of work went into immediate quarantine and was deep cleaned.

The spokesman added only staff allocated to that floor were allowed entrance, no visitors were admitted and there was no use of communal areas as a precautionary measure.

“Social distancing has been maintained as far as reasonably practicable,” the spokesman said.

“Staff use PPE at all times and there is continuous disinfection and deep cleaning.”

“These measures are maintained in ERS, even when there are no positive cases.”

These precautionary measures aim to prevent and protect the residents, staff and visitors and currently visitors are accepted to non-affected floors.

The other floors are not in quarantine, only the floor in quarantine is the third floor.