COVID-19 cases double again in Palestine
MAP - 10 July 2020 - Latest updates from medical and programme teams in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon
▻https://www.map.org.uk/news/archive/post/1134-covid-19-cases-double-again-in-palestine-map-response-continues
Today, Friday 10 July, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that 5,829 cases of COVID-19 have been identified in the oPt, up from 2,698 on Tuesday 30 June. With the number of cases in Gaza remaining stable during this period (72), all new cases have been reported in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The southern governorate of Hebron has been hardest hit by this latest surge in cases, with at least 4,028 overall according to the World Health Organization.
Sadly, since Wednesday seven deaths have also been reported in the West Bank, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths across the oPt to 30, with 29 deaths in the West Bank and one in Gaza. Of the seven most recent Covid-related fatalities, six were from the Hebron district, aged 58, 71, 87, 79, 68 and 62, and one was from the northern village of Hajja, aged 52.
MAP’s partners have reported at least 52 Palestinian health workers in the West Bank have been infected with COVID-19. This week it was announced that a team of health workers from Gaza are preparing to travel to the West Bank to support health workers battling the virus there. The capacity of the Palestinian healthcare system has been greatly undermined by decades of occupation and financial constraints, and many communities remain vulnerable to the disease due to politically driven socioeconomic conditions and poor public health.
Beyond the West Bank, in Gaza and the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Palestinian communities also remain extremely susceptible.
Dr Adnan, the Director of the MAP-supported Ard El Insan (AEI) Malnutrition Centre in Gaza, told MAP:
“The impact of COVID-19 in Gaza has been enormous. The situation here was already very bad before this crisis, but now is far worse. Many families on low incomes have seen their salaries reduced or have lost their jobs entirely. Other aid services on which they are heavily dependent have been cut or ended altogether. We have seen more and more people coming to our centre, desperately looking for some hope.”