Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report 46

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report 46

Information for period: 5 March – 1 October 2020

• COVID-19 cases across the occupied Palestinian territory in September rose by 40%, and by 84% in the Gaza Strip
• WHO delivered COVID-19 lab testing kits, supplies and reagents to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip over the past week to address the shortage of testing kits
• The UK Government has reprogrammed WHO funding to support the critical scale up of laboratory testing in the Gaza Strip, through the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Response plan

WHO is continuing to work with partners to support Ministry of Health’s (MoH) efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

• In the Gaza Strip, the Gaza-Egypt Rafah crossing opened for three days (on 27 September 2020), allowing exit of 2,659 people to Egypt, and entry of approximately 1,700 Palestinians to Gaza. All returnees were quarantined on arrival for a compulsory period of 7 days, to be tested on day five of the quarantine
• The lockdown in Israel continues and has been extended until October 14

WHO procured and delivered 8,000 COVID-19 tests to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health in Ramallah to cover immediate gaps in testing capacities for COVID-19 and to ensure continuity of efforts to contain the pandemic in the oPt. This delivery was made possible thanks to the support of the Government of Germany. 

Surveillance  

• 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 COVID-19 cases in September rose by 20,603 or 40%, an average of 686 cases per day in the oPt.
• In the Gaza Strip, cases have risen by 84% or 2,592, an average of 86 cases per day for the same period. With most cases linked to community transmission.
• Three hundred and seventy-six have died in the oPt, with an overall case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.67%
• The MoH announced on 28 September that the recovery rate has increased to 80.3 per cent and recorded the highest number of recovery cases – 1,665 cases – since the beginning of the pandemic.

• A total of 416,569 laboratory samples have been tested for COVID-19 according to the MoH
• In both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, WHO has delivered laboratory supplies, testing kits and reagents to conduct up to 30,000 COVID-19 tests. These new supplies will allow testing to continue and scale-up efforts to contain the spread of the virus. Thanks for the generous support of the Government of Kuwait, the Government of Germany and UK Aid.

• 34,191 Palestinians are in quarantine (home or facility-based) to prevent further spread of the disease
• In the Gaza Strip, 1,806 people are in one of 10 quarantine facilities which include health facilities, hotels and other designated buildings
• Additionally, WHO continues to coordinate and support the delivery of vital medical equipment for the COVID-19 response across Gaza and the West Bank (see images for detail).

WHO delivered 8 pallets of Personal Protective Equipment items including 10,000 N95 masks, 10,000 face shields and 10,000 shoe covers to ensure protection of frontline health workers in COVID-19 health facilities. Thanks to the support of EU Humanitarian Aid. ​

• Palestinian patients continue to face substantial barriers to accessing essential healthcare due to restrictions on movement between parts of the oPt
• From 6 September, following extensive advocacy and negotiations, WHO initiated a temporary coordination mechanism to support patients and their companions requiring exit from the Gaza Strip. WHO submitted 139 patient permit applications and 153 companion applications during the month. Read more about WHO’s temporary coordination mechanism
• In August, while West Bank referrals continued at levels similar to those prior to COVID-19, referrals for patients from the Gaza Strip remained less than half the number they were prior to April 2020
• Recorded permit approvals for Gaza patients were approximately 10% of the monthly approvals prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in the oPt, while little data has been available for West Bank permit approvals since the end to coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli authorities in May 2020. Read WHO’s latest monthly access report.