John Culatto
THERE are now no longer any limits on the amount of people that can get together in Gibraltar for the first time since the pandemic started, the government has revealed.
Since April 16 the restrictions on gathering have been removed, making way for spectators of sports events and cultural events to start to take place.
At first, though, there will just be half capacity allowed at these sorts of public events until April 30, when that number will increase to 66%.
On May 14, full capacity will then be re-allowed as long as number of active cases are still as low as they are today.
There are currently 15 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, all visitors, thought to be from a visiting ship.
Only one of them is in hospital, although rumours abounded on social media that they had been in town before going into self-isolation.
However, with first jab figures now going to nearly 36,000 people, Gibraltar is arguably the best protected population in the world.
This fact has allowed gyms and religious meetings to go ahead under the responsibility of their managers or leadership.
Grub up
For the first time in a while, DJs and live music are back on the menu at bars and restaurants with no masks needed when eating or drinking out.
However, staff will still need to carry out contact tracing while wearing masks when serving customers.
Sanitising and regular cleaning of surfaces will still need to be carried out regularly.
The public will still have to wear masks at shops, in health clinics, on buses and taxis, at funerals, and religious services until May 1.
Samantha Sacramento, Minister for Health, said she was happy that the jabs were working but made it clear people had to be careful as a new wave of COVID-19 spread around Europe.
“I am extremely pleased that the vaccination programme has allowed us to continue to ease restrictions,” she said.
“However, we need to remain alive to the situation around and note that things could change at a moment’s notice.
“We must therefore be prudent and not allow all the good work go to waste and we can do our own part by following Public Health advice in a post vaccination world.”
