Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report 44
occupied Palestinian territory, issued 17 September 2020
Information for period: 5 March – 17 September 2020
Highlights
- COVID-19 cases in the oPt so far this month rose by 30% in the oPt and 83% in the Gaza Strip
- WHO continued to deliver critical medical equipment to support the response in the Gaza Strip
Have you ever heard of a triage kit?
This week WHO delivered five of them to be used at Gaza’s five main hospitals. They are an essential part of the emergency response and support frontline health workers in chaotic situations to:
- organize and keep order
- prioritize the needs of survivors
- get to work administering life-saving aid and
- maintain infection prevention and control.
The kits will support 5,000 patients and 500 health workers during the COVID-19 outbreak. WHO also delivered some 5,000 overalls to local health authorities in the Gaza Strip. Thanks to EU Humanitarian Aid for supporting this delivery
WHO preparedness, readiness and response
WHO is continuing to work with partners to support Ministry of Health’s (MoH) efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Coordination, planning and monitoring
- In the Gaza Strip, community transmission remains a serious concern due to capacity gaps of the health system. All five governorates remain separated, with movement within each governorate allowed from 07:00 to 20:00, except for hotspot areas with clusters of cases. Schools remain closed until further notice
- WHO continues to support key priorities, including to scale-up testing capacity to 2.000 tests daily and contact tracing; enhance case management capacity; risk communication and community engagement. The provision of essential protective equipment (PPE) for frontline health workers continues together with training in infection prevention and control
- Additional challenges include: access to information about available health and testing services; take up of COVID-19 free call line 103; citizens avoiding medical treatment due to fear of infection
- In the West Bank, On 16 September, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases the Prime Minister instructed the security forces to tighten the procedures and penalties against any violators of MoH preventive measures (e.g. wearing facemasks, physical distancing, preventing large gathering etc)
- All governorates reported temporary closure of several schools, due to confirmed COVID-19 cases amongst teachers and students, until tracing of the virus and disinfection of schools is complete. The Palestinian Authority is considering re-opening some schools for classes above grade four, according to a new classification which takes into account different locations and the number of confirmed cases (in classes and schools)
- MoH announced that starting from next Sunday 21, a new colour classification of areas will be used, and levels of risks will be assigned
- The Israeli Government has imposed a three-week lockdown starting Friday 18 September at 14:00 to October 11 to address the spike in COVID-19 cases. The lockdown will restrict people from travelling more than 500 meters from their homes, subject to exceptions for essential purposes. Businesses that serve customers in-person will be closed, but retailers selling essentials such as food and medicine will remain open.
Surveillance and Laboratory diagnostics
- The WHO risk assessment remains very high as the number of people testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 continues to increase
- The total number of cases in oPt increased to 43,345 including 41,169 cases in the West Bank and 2,176 in the Gaza Strip; 32 patients are in serious condition requiring intensive care unit (ICU) treatment, with 10 requiring mechanical ventilation; a total of 520 health workers are among those confirmed cases
- So far this month (till September 17), the total number of COVID-19 cases has risen by 30% or 13,407, an average of 788 cases per day. In the Gaza Strip, cases have risen by 83% or 1,820, an average of 109 cases per day for the same period. With most cases linked to community transmission
- The highest daily total for confirmed cases for oPt was recorded on 15 September with 1,118
- In the West Bank, most cases recorded are from Hebron (15,480) and East Jerusalem (9,502)
- In the Gaza Strip, the cumulative total of confirmed cases is 2,176, including 1,740 active cases, 16 deaths and 420 recovered; two patients are in a serious condition requiring ICU treatment and are connected to mechanical ventilators. A total of 96 health workers are also among the confirmed cases
- To-date, the Ministry of Health reported a total of 30,542 cases have recovered: 30,122 in the West Bank (including 7,482 in East Jerusalem) and 420 in Gaza. Two hundred and seventy-eight have died, with an overall case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.64%
- More than half (52.3%) of all confirmed cases are female (17,715 cases) and more than two-third (70%) of all cases (23,806 cases) are below the age of 50 years.
Laboratory diagnostics
- A total of 359,873 laboratory samples have been tested for COVID-19 according to the MoH.
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Isolation and Case Management, Operations Support and Logistics
Vital medical equipment which health workers can use to manage patients in the COVID-19 response was delivered to local health authorities in the Gaza Strip yesterday including:
- 1 ECG Machine (to check a heart’s rhythm and electrical activity)
- 100 stethoscopes (to listen to internal sounds in the human body)
- 50 sphygmomanometers (to measure blood pressure)
More items are on the way next week as part of this delivery generously funded by the oPt Humanitarian Fund.
- 26,749 Palestinians are in quarantine (home or facility-based) to prevent further spread of the disease
- In the Gaza Strip, 186 people are in one of 3 quarantine facilities which include health facilities, hotels or other designated buildings
- Capacity of health staff to manage severe and critical COVID-19 patients remain a concern and WHO with health cluster partners is conducting a rapid assessment of Gaza European Hospital’s capacities. Identified gaps are to be quickly addressed through technical support
- On 12 September, local health authorities in Gaza released new criteria for discharging COVID-19 patients from isolation without requiring testing:
- For symptomatic patients: 14 days after a positive PCR test result or after symptoms’ onset (whichever comes later). The last 3 days prior to the release must be without symptoms
- For asymptomatic COVID-19 patients: 14 days after a positive PCR test result
- Severely immunocompromised patients and at-risk groups: 24 days after a positive PCR test result or after symptoms’ onset (whichever comes later). The last 3 days prior to the release must be without symptoms
- This week, WHO delivered vital medical equipment which health workers can use to manage patients in the COVID-19 response was delivered to local health authorities in the Gaza Strip this week, supported by oPt HF and EU Humanitarian Aid (see images for detail).
More local information
Document Type: Situation Report, Update
Document Sources: World Health Organization (WHO)
Subject: Health
Publication Date: 17/09/2020
URL source: https://who18.createsend.com/campaigns/reports/viewCampaign.aspx?d=j&c=99FA4938D049E3A8&ID=713ACA69896816712540EF23F30FEDED&temp=False&tx=0&source=Report&fbclid=IwAR0sgyqoV2q6zqgyhpXt8lKEntOmeXzoyaslGoXzgSjCpP9lTI7IcDorSMY
Document Sources: World Health Organization (WHO)
Subject: Health
Publication Date: 17/09/2020
URL source: https://who18.createsend.com/campaigns/reports/viewCampaign.aspx?d=j&c=99FA4938D049E3A8&ID=713ACA69896816712540EF23F30FEDED&temp=False&tx=0&source=Report&fbclid=IwAR0sgyqoV2q6zqgyhpXt8lKEntOmeXzoyaslGoXzgSjCpP9lTI7IcDorSMY