Lifting the lid on lockdown

A year on from the first Covid-19 lockdown, and it goes without saying that life is very different now, and is likely not to return quite to normal for a long time, if ever. 

Gibraltar has had it’s tough moments, as have most countries across the world. We have had to make huge efforts to support our health and care services and we have sacrificed time with loved ones to stop the spread of the virus. Our kids have had their education disrupted and our teachers have worked valiantly to make sure children stayed engaged with learning and did not fall too far behind their schedules. Many of our small businesses are struggling to get back to their feet in the wake of the severe impact two lockdowns and ongoing restrictions have had on their businesses. And, worse of all, we have lost loved ones.

But we are entering the sunnier, warmer days of spring with a renewed sense of optimism. Gibraltar is the first nation in the world that completed its adult vaccine programme. We are now in the process of vaccinating cross-border workers, and those Gibratlarians returning home as the countries where they were staying ease travel restrictions. We are all beginning to feel a sense of new-found freedom even though we are still exercising caution; no hugs and kisses on meeting friends in the street, face masks and hand sanitiser a staple in our pockets or handbags; and that element of standing back a couple of meters when talking to anyone.

As estate and property managers working with people and their homes, Advanced Property Care has been steadily assimilating the lessons of lockdown into our everyday routine. Covid-19 has taught us all some valuable lessons, and no doubt as the pandemic wears on, there will be more lessons to come. What we found was that other than face masks and social distancing, our in-house good hygiene rules were already in place; adding the wearing of face masks in enclosed and public areas was just a small step-change in our routines. The new routines of March 2020 are now standard, everyday routines in March 2021.

We all have been reminded that hygiene is one of the most important aspects of modern life. Good hygiene, both as individuals and as a society, is what has lifted us from the disease-ridden days of the not-so-distant past. Gibraltar, as a port of call for international shipping for centuries, has always been vulnerable to infectious diseases such as yellow fever and the city endured several epidemics and lockdowns in the past. Some of the gravestones at Trafalgar Cemetery just outside Southport Gates show the names of some of the victims of nineteenth-century epidemics.

At our estates and in our management properties, Advanced Property Care has quickly adopted the use of hand sanitiser, additional hand-washing routines and making sure surfaces are regularly cleaned. We liaise with cleaning contractors to provide their operatives with practical, on-site support wherever necessary because we believe that when contractors servicing an estate work together as a team, everyone on that estate benefits. 

Where we provide caretaking services to estates Advanced Property Care’s site caretakers will supervise visiting contractors. These will be required to sign in and sign out of the estate (unless they have been hired for work in private apartments), and the caretaker will ensure that they, too, are observing Covid19 safety rules and maintaining good hygiene and social distancing, and wearing masks where appropriate.

Our team is provided with face masks and are instructed to wear these while working in areas that the public might need to access, such as the lift lobbies, or entrances to blocks. They ensure that the apartments that they are working in are well ventilated and that they wear masks if they work inside tenanted apartments with tenants present. Importantly, we listen and liaise closely with individuals that need our services in their apartments. If they have particular worries or concerns, we make sure these are addressed so that the work they need can be done efficiently for them, and, above all, safely.

We are looking ahead to working throughout the summer with renewed energy and vigour after this locked-down start to 2021. And we will keep the lessons of Covid-19 close; good hygiene and safety measures are vital to keeping viruses and bacteria at bay, not just Covid-19, and good practice for Covid-19, is good practice for all infections. 

Lifting the lid on lockdown means being cautious, being thorough and being aware that hygiene and safety measures are as much about common sense as about Covid-19. And it also means that we can continue to aim for excellence in all our work activities because staying away from future lockdowns means getting hygiene and safety measures right every time.

One final note: we have always welcomed the use of new technology, and Advanced Property Care works online, remotely and via Zoom and other apps to make sure that clients can be in touch with us readily. We didn’t slow down at all during lockdown: we adapted. Now the summer is almost on us, we aim to accelerate. The team is growing, we have expanded into a new office and our client base is growing...more news on this in our next post!