Minister Balban’s Statement - Saturday’s COVID-19 Briefing
Here’s the full text of Minister Balban’s opening statement from this afternoon’s COVID-19 briefing:
Good Afternoon, and thank you for joining us once again today for our daily COVID-19 update.
I am joined today by the Medical Director, Dr Krish Rawal.
I will start by running through todays COVID Statistics:
As of this morning at 8am:
The total number of swabs taken so far was 2711
There are 196 results pending
And the total results received to date is 2515
We have a total of 2273 negative test results with 144 confirmed cases and 12 active cases which is no change from yesterday.
We now have 132 recovered cases.
I will now share with you our hospital statistics.
In the last 24 hours there have been a total of 46 attendances to A&E which is a marked increase in general attendances.
Of these, 9 had symptoms that could be related to COVID 19.
There was 1 admission to John Ward, which is our COVID Ward in the last 24hours.
There were no admissions to COVID CCU.
SBH & the Europa Point Hospital Nightingale Facility
Dry Runs
As I announced last week at the Press Conference, a joint Dry Run involving both SBH and the Nightingale Facility took place this past Thursday.
The exercise’s scope was:
- to test our recall of staff via our SBH call centre in case of an emergency
- to test the resilience of the ambulance service in a surge scenario
- to determine the triage capacity by the Senior Nursing Staff
- to assess SBH’s ability to decant patients to the Nightingale Facility
The feedback is such, that all the testing objectives were met by the exercise and only minor issues regarding communication and coordination have been highlighted.
These have since been corrected.
Our ability to carry out exercises of this nature allows us to audit our practices in test scenarios to ensure that we are able to provide the best possible response, should this be necessary.
Once again, this dry run involved volunteers acting as make-believe patients, adding that most important element of realism to the scenarios.
I would like to thank all those involved. The feedback has been very positive.
Drive through
The GHA continues swabbing patients via Our Drive Thru facility at Rooke.
So far, a total of 1020 swabs have been taken via the Drive Thru facility which continues being a very useful means to test the community and carry out the targeted testing program of frontline workers, including healthcare workers, the RGP, Borders & Coastguards, HM Prison and MOD staff, in a safe and controlled environment.
Laboratory Equipment carried out locally
As of midday yesterday, a total of 536 swabs have been processed via our in-house laboratory testing equipment since we started on the 9th of April.
Our on-site equipment allows a quick turnaround of test results when medically indicated and necessary.
Temperature scanning at SBH
Last week the GHA started temperature scanning at SBH and enforcing hand sanitising. This follows what had already been introduced at other GHA ERS facilities.
CONCLUSION
The GHA is continuously researching into COVID 19 as is the Government of Gibraltar.
COVID 19 is such a new disease, caused by a strain of Coronavirus that the research being carried out worldwide is critical to all of us - if we are going to find a way to get over this pandemic, be it by way of any future vaccine, treatment or change to the way in which we live.
At the end of the day, the aim is to preserve life and especially that of the most vulnerable.
Nevertheless, one thing is for sure, COVID 19 has put things greatly into perspective for all of us.
When medical research has seen our life-expectancy increase over time with better treatments and better surgical advancements, all it takes, is for something so small that we cannot even see it under a microscope, to all of a sudden reverse the trend of increased life expectancy, at a blink of an eye.
Now, all of a sudden being over 70 is a risk factor in its own right, albeit, when we have other associated compounding and unstable conditions.
I must stress that for most, healthy members of the community that is, COVID 19 is a fleeting infection, one that will pass most of us by, without much effect. But for some of us within the community, especially the vulnerable, it will test every part of our resilience to it.
These are the very people we need to protect, and it is not until it affects someone close to us, that the penny drops.
As a Government and as the GHA, this is exactly what we are trying to protect the community from.
There is a fine line that needs to be found between slowly opening ourselves up for business and to be able to try to resume normality, but normality may have changed forever. We have to be sensible.
We do not know this for certain, but already our lives have been disrupted in so many ways that were thought impossible 6 months ago.
Today some businesses have reopened but in a different way, they need to provide hand sanitisers and face masks if they are unable to provide social distancing.
In Gibraltar this was unheard of.
This is how our lives have changed.
It is hoped that things will return to how we recall them.
History has shown epidemics and pandemics resolved over time with advances in medicine, so I am confident that over time we will too return to our way of being.
But in the meantime, we have to be very careful and very conscious of where we are.
If we do not need to go out, we should not go out.
COVID 19 has taught us many things and no doubt it will continue to teach us many more.
Our history and our past is held by those we wish to protect the most now, our parents and our grandparents.
As a society we are so fond of our older generations.
This is a natural human trait and in fact an animal condition, to look after our very own genes.
So far, it has been relatively easy, the weather has been on our side.
Since lockdown there have been very few beautiful days that it has been simple to stay indoors.
Now, as we lockout slowly, we need to remember the basic rules, hand washing, keeping social distancing and wearing masks if in close proximity with others or in enclosed areas.
This advice will continue to change as we learn more about the virus and its spread.
The RGP had to intervene yesterday and close off some areas because of the numbers of people congregating in certain places.
Eastern Beach was a clear example.
I am sure that the Commissioner of Police, Ian McGrail will have more to say about this tomorrow at the 4pm Press Conference.
The law sets out clearly that we are still in lockdown, we are only allowed to go outdoors to exercise, go to work or shop at certain establishments.
We will be slowly returning to a more normal life in terms of what we can do, but for the moment, going to the beach and sitting on a towel is not exercise.
Driving to the beach, parking your car and sitting on the sand is not exercise, but driving there if absolutely necessary or preferably walking or cycling there and perhaps taking a swim and then walking, cycling or driving back is exercise.
We need to be sensible.
Because the effects of our actions today only manifest themselves in 10-14 days’ time, it is very difficult to measure the effects and the consequences of our actions today.
In 2 weeks’ time we could have a surge but not necessarily so, if we are sensible and take care.
This is our aim.
But we must not think for one moment that change is bad.
On the contrary some change is in fact very good.
We could all do without wearing the masks and we could all do with going out and so some shopping or going out for dinner, and that time will come.
BUT there are things that we are doing now that are very positive indeed.
I am so pleased to see more and more people walking and cycling.
I see parents with their young children cycling on safer, quieter roads.
I am pleased to see less cars on our roads.
Our environment is improving and this will improve our respiratory health.
As a race, humans are getting heavier, becoming more overweight and suffering from poor health as a result, suffering more heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and all the things that come with being overweight and obese.
This compounded with high levels of smoking and low levels of truly meaningful exercise in the community is the perfect recipe for ill health.
Ill health leads to a greater need to see doctors, take medicine, need treatment and suffer serious diseases that would lead to a decrease in quality of our life.
COVID 19 has taught us and it is teaching us to keep healthy, to keep fit, because by doing so we have a better chance of surviving the pandemic unscathed.
As we slowly lockout we will be looking at Public Health and medical experts to help lead the way, but we will also be looking further afield and also looking at how other cities are coping and changing to better and healthier futures.
We will need to look how we move, how we travel, where we go on holiday in future.
At the end of the day, our health rules everything we do, without it we cannot move, we cannot travel, we cannot love.
Changing our lifestyle will make us a better, fitter community and the benefits will be huge.
I am excited for our future because I think that together we can make a difference to Gibraltar and indeed to our planet.
I think that COVID 19 will make us stronger and healthier and it will teach us to accept what we have.
For now, the most important thing is our health and our families.
What use are material things if at the end of the day a virus can take it all away from us overnight.
Government is working hard as we prepare to lock out to assess which of the measures we have taken as a result of COVID can remain, what things we can do better and what things we were doing before that we can perhaps do away with completely.
In this way we can become a better place, one that attracts people to us, especially tourists perhaps because we are a sensible society and a safe and greener place to visit.
We are a remarkable community, we have beaten so many things in the past and stood up against adversity.
We will do very well indeed if we set our minds to it.
For now, however, our minds have to be on our vulnerable and on our frontline workers, especially those who we need to protect, who will then need to be there for us, should we need them.
So, our success is down to you, down to all of us.
Let’s not let the first rays of sun blind us.
Let’s not let the first shops to open detract our attention from the reality.
There will be many days of sunshine ahead of us.
There will be many days for shopping for pleasure.
Please be sensible
Let’s keep safe, stay home, observe the rules, look after ourselves, keep fit, eat healthily and let’s keep smiling.
Donations:
Finally, although the CM has already mentioned this publicly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate GBC for their effort and huge fundraising success at the GBC Open Day, Stay Home Edition.
Once again, the whole community stands united for that one common cause.
Thank you.
