THERE have now been a total of 35 cases of Coronavirus in Gibraltar, with 13 of them having fully recovered.

Nine new cases were recorded today, adding up to 22 that are active at the moment.

They are all ‘doing fine’ and recovering in isolation according to Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Garcia .

Military, logistical and medical support could soon be arriving from the UK.

Garcia echoed the latest message to the people by Boris Johnson recently.

“Stay home, stay alive,” said Garcia of the CV crisis.

“Remember that if you have any of the well publicised symptoms associated with Covid 19, you should call 111 first and not simply turn up.

“Based on what has happened in other countries numbers will continue to increase that more and more of us citizens will fall to the virus.

“That is why your government has taken drastic and draconian action in order to protect you, action which is unheard of in a democratic society, but we live in abnormal times.”

He said the Government and GHA were trying to be ‘as honest and transparent as possible’ with the public.

With most Gibraltarians now unable to go to Spain, 22 out of 28 flights to the UK have also been cancelled, leaving the Rock more isolated than ever.

Only Easyjet will be flying to and from the UK everyday except Wednesday for the moment at least.

He said things would ‘get worse before they get better’, but that we need to be ‘positive’.

In a show of support for all emergency services, the Moorish Castle will be lit up in blew.

Img_20200326_160107
CAUTIOUS: Ministers have advised people to stay indoors at the moment

Support

Local businesses have contributed to the effort, with gaming company Mansion giving ‘a substantial amount’ today.

The application forms for the BEAT Covid measures for businesses can now be found on the government website.

Minister for Civil Contingencies Samantha Sacramento said her department was ‘calm, organised and run with military precision’.

She said that the hardest challenge is keeping up to date with all the latest developments in the progress of the virus.

“Our objective is to flatten the curve, because this is how we save lives with our elderly being the most at risk,” said Sacramento.

“If people do not follow our advice and the measures that are put in place, then the positive cases that we have will just shoot up.

“Because of Gibraltars density, our curve would look more like a spike.”

“I know that as a culture we like to be close to each other, but for this period it’s just not possible.”

She informed that the elderly day care centre had been closed and elderly homes were in complete lockdown.

Hundreds of calls were being made to each elderly citizen to ask them how they were doing after being advised not to go out at all.

“The reason for this call is to establish what their needs are,” said the minister for civil contingencies.

“We want to know how they’re coping, whether they live alone and whether they have support.

“We can put additional help in place to help them, should this be necessary.

“ People should rely on their families, first and foremost, to allow us to release the staff that we have to support everybody else.”

She said that family members should help them set up bill payments online as this was often a routine of the elderly.

Img_20200326_170033 1
ON PATROL: The RGP are stopping people who leave home as part of the lockdown

The authorities have tried to look at mental health issues and provide support to both people at home and frontline workers.

This includes cases of domestic abuse which the government hopes will be reported to the police even in these times of confinement.

“We want to ensure that they have the support that they need deserve should they reach a point of burnout, which is only human,” said Sacramento.

“We’re also very fortunate to have almost 1000 people who have volunteered to help in one way or another.”

The volunteers have been given the go-ahead through vetting and work in the call centre, home help and strategic groups.

The amount of people crossing the border has now gone down from 10,000 cars and 30,000 people to just a thousand cars and 2,000 people.

Some of those essential staff and locals who used to live in Spain are now in hotels at a cheap rate agreed with the government.

Subscribe to the Olive Press

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.