Government has reported that a resident of Elderly Residential Services passed away on 16th November 2020. COVID-19 has been recorded as a contributing factor to the death.

The deceased was aged between 90 and 95 years old, a woman who was a resident of Hillsides. The resident died due to other causes, but was also suffering from COVID-19 at the time of death.

Gibraltar has a local system of certifying all deaths through medical examiners. 'This means we are able to determine whether any death has taken place that is connected to COVID-19. In this case, it was agreed by all medical experts that the virus had played a contributory part to the death. Therefore, the resident is recorded as having died with COVID-19.'

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo, said: ‘This is terribly sad news and my sincerest condolences go to the family and friends of the deceased who I also knew well.

‘Although COVID-19 was not the direct cause of death, unfortunately this is the second time that ERS has lost a resident suffering from COVID-19 in a week, despite the best efforts of the staff to contain the outbreak there. ERS remains on lockdown in order to reduce the risk of any further spread into these facilities although we will do everything we can to re-introduce visits as soon as possible.

‘As numbers of active cases of COVID-19 in the community continue to rise, we must all continue to do everything we can to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. However repetitive it may seem to say this again, please remember that it is the simple things like washing hands, wearing a mask where required and keeping a safe 2 metre distance that will significantly reduce your risk of contracting and spreading the virus. It is vitally important that you protect yourself and your loved ones by following the rules, and be truthful to the Contact Tracing Bureau if you do test positive. These are the only ways to keep everyone safe. The vaccines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are not yet with us and we have to ensure that we are protecting each other proactively until people are being vaccinated.’