Covid-19: thanks to collective immunity, Gibraltar finds a normal life
General view of the Spanish town of Linea de la Concepcion, bordering the territory of Gibraltar, and to the left the tarmac of Gibraltar airport.
To the right the Rock of Gibraltar, 426 meters above sea level. REUTERS / Jon Nazca / File Photo
Text by: Diane Cambon
3 min
It is the first territory on the European continent to have almost regained a life before the pandemic.
Close to collective immunity, with 73% of the population vaccinated, the British enclave of Gibraltar, located at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula, acts as a post-Covid-19 laboratory, under the watchful eye of Spain and from the rest of Europe.
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While a fourth wave of
Covid-19
threatens Spain, it's hard to believe, but since Friday March 26, this
small British territory of 7 km2
lives almost as in the world before.
A feeling of freedom floats throughout the enclave.
Masks are no longer compulsory
in the open air, there is no longer a curfew and restaurants and bars, especially pubs, can remain open until two in the morning.
However, the population is cautious and the inhabitants keep their distance.
But life has resumed, as confirmed by the many weddings celebrated in the chain on Saturdays.
73% of the vaccinated population
Within two months, the local British government succeeded in turning the tide.
At the height of the epidemic, on January 8, Gibraltar had up to 1,317 contagions, half of the cases corresponding to the British strain.
Today, the enclave has only 11 cases.
What is the government's recipe?
It must be said that in December, the local authorities worked hard to immunize the population with the vaccine.
By this time, all adults, 73% of the population,
have received two doses
.
It is a success, but this quasi-collective immunity is also easier to achieve in a territory populated by only 337,000 inhabitants.
However, Gibraltar is not an isolated territory.
Contacts with Spain are constant.
Every day, several planes land from the UK and nearly 15,000 workers cross the border to get from one side of the grid to the other.
These cross-border workers have also become the priority of the government of Gibraltar.
Among them, 9,400 Spaniards, a third of whom have already received the first injection of the vaccine.
It is also a boon for them because in their country,
only 5.3% of the population has been vaccinated.
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See also: Covid-19: cross-border workers in Gibraltar are the first Spaniards to be vaccinated
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