John Culatto
FIVE new COVID-19 cases at schools have helped push infections to 119 on the Rock.
Active Cases have grown despite even tougher measures brought in by the Gibraltar government recently.
It follows yesterday’s first death from the virus on the Rock of a nonagenarian woman.
The jump in cases in the last few days is one of the biggest in recent weeks, possibly leading to new controls.
There are now 11 people at the COVID-19 ward, possibly the highest number so far with one in intensive care.
Cases at the elderly homes also rose to seven after coming down to five yesterday.
Three of the new school cases were at Westside, although only seven pupils have been asked to self-isolate.
The same cannot be said of St Joseph’s Upper Primary where a case recorded there has led to the self-isolation of 26 children and two lunchtime staff members.
Another five workers were sent home at Bishop Fitzgerald Upper Primary school after a person was found to have COVID-19 there.
The Contact Tracing team are working with the department of education and will notify parents of any other close contacts.
Anyone with symptoms from the school has been asked to call 111 for further instructions.
Regional chaos
Frontier flow is lower after the new measures came into effect in neighbouring Spain, although there is no need to be tested going into La Linea.
Nearly 100 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths were recorded in the Gibraltar Campo since yesterday.
In Algeciras, a protest was held by the hospitality sector against the new regional government rules.
Business owners and workers demanded more help from the authorities after being told they had to close up at 6pm every day.
The new rules have also hurt the fishing, farming, food distribution and wine industries, deepening the unemployment crisis in the region.
