Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Update 16

occupied Palestinian territory, March 30, 2020 (epidemiological week 5)

• Cases recovered: 18
• West Bank: 18
• Gaza: 0

• On 29 March 2020, the Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed 11 new cases in the West Bank and on 30 March an additional 7 new cases in the West Bank. No new cases were reported for Gaza in this period
• The total number of cases in all oPt is 115, including 106 cases in West Bank and 9 cases in Gaza (see Graph 1 for geographical locations of confirmed cases and Graph 2 for cases per day and Graph 3 for cumulative confirmed cases and Graph 4 for cases by age and gender)
• To-date, the MoH has reported a total of 18 cases have recovered and one person had died
• Most cases do not present clinical symptoms and none are critical. All new cases are under medical observation at designated health facilities. Contact tracing was initiated for all cases
• The East Jerusalem Hospital Network has announced preparations for Jerusalem hospitals to deal with cases of COVID-19 that require clinical care, including the distribution of roles among the network’s six main hospitals: Makassed, Augusta Victoria, St Joseph, St. John’s Eye, The Red Crescent in Jerusalem and the Princess Basma Centre. See below under the Response section for details of these measures
• In the Gaza Strip, the local health authorities have expanded the laboratory monitoring process to include hundreds of samples for quarantine inmates and contacts of COVID-19 patients in quarantine centers since the beginning of March 2020
• More than 1760 people are in one of 25 designated quarantine facilities including at Rafah crossing quarantine centre or at health facilities, schools or hotels designated as quarantine facilities. The quarantine period will be extended from two to three weeks (21 days). Those coming from crossings at Rafah or Erez have been quarantined since March 15. Home quarantine ended 26 March for those who entered Gaza 14 days prior
• Work at outpatient clinics, non-emergency surgeries, and visits to inpatients at public hospitals have all been suspended. Other precautionary measures include closing the weekly open markets in all governorates of the Gaza Strip, and restricting social gatherings like weddings and funerals
• The MoH has limited public primary healthcare service delivery in the Gaza Strip, to 14 centers distributed across the five governorates, which will be providing essential services only. One school per governorate was also assigned to serve as a triage center for respiratory cases
• The UN Humanitarian Coordinator has released 1 Million USD from the humanitarian pooled fund to address immediate priority needs and WHO and partners are working with the donor community to mobilize further resources to support the government’s efforts and to address identified priority COVID-19 response actions to support containment and to address immediate health system gaps
• An amount of $500,000 USD of UK AID has been re-allocated to directly support the COVID-19 response
• WHO urges the public to obtain the latest information on COVID-19 from key sources such as MoH (dashboard) and WHO (see Twitter, Facebook and oPt website), and follow and promote the recommended basic preventive and protective measures.

*Information provided by Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health on March 30 at 09:00 (GMT + 2)

Response in oPt:

On 26 March 2020, the Palestinian Authority released the National COVID-19 Response Plan that outlined the strategic measures from a number of key sectors, including health, economy and social protection to contain the outbreak. The amount of $120 million planned by the PA for a period of 90 days is needed to support the proposed measures

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

On 27 March 2020, the humanitarian clusters under the leadership of Humanitarian Coordinator and with support from WHO have released an updated inter-agency multi-sectoral COVID-19 response plan totaling $34 million for a period of 90 days. The plan aligns the collective efforts of the UN and its partners to support the Palestinian Authority’s lead National Response Plan to manage the impact of COVID-19 as well as with the global UN appeal issued by the UN Secretary-General on 25 March 2020.

The health response part of the oPt inter-agency plan asks for $19.5 million to support immediate priority COVID-19 response actions developed by partners to support containment and to address immediate health system gaps in laboratory testing, case management and infection prevention and control.

To support the COVID-19 response in the West Bank and Gaza, since the beginning of the response WHO has delivered:

• COVID-19 testing kits to conduct an estimated 5,760 tests alongside with swabs for collection of samples and other laboratory supplies required for COVID-19 testing
• Personal Protective Equipment and hand sanitizers to protect an estimated 2,000 health workers
• Infrastructure supplies for isolation facilities in Jericho
• More than 100,000 brochures and posters to the public with practical advice on how to prevent COVID-19
• In addition WHO is purchasing 25 types of medical disposable items to be used in health facilities designated to treat COVID-19 patients in the Gaza Strip

The MOH have implemented effective measures to ensure early detection and case management of any suspected COVID-19 case and so far have ensured that:

• In the West Bank, quarantine and treatment facilities and emergency committees are being established in key governorates
• the Ministry of Health has developed a new COVID-19 dashboard (in Arabic) to track cases: https://www.corona.ps/
• A central operations room has been established at Prime Minister’s office to coordinate activities, including contacts with media
• laboratory capacities of the MoH in Ramallah have been scaled up
• Point of entry checks for incoming travelers are being conducted and isolation wards in health facilities have been established
• health workers are equipped and trained in the appropriate infection prevention and control measures and case management of potential COVID-19 case across the oPt
• the general public continues to be regularly updated, including advice on how to protect themselves.

The response is ongoing in the Gaza Strip but there are substantial capacity gaps to be addressed including the procurement of essential medical supplies and equipment (such as lab testing kits)

On 25 March, in Gaza WHO supported the training of 50 MoH personnel from preventive medicine and infection prevention and control departments on case management, infection prevention and control measures, and rational use of personal protective equipment at Shifa Hospital.

Preparations for COVID-19 by the East Jerusalem Hospital Network 

The network has announced preparations for Jerusalem hospitals to deal with cases of COVID-19 that require clinical care, including the distribution of roles among the network’s six main hospitals including the following:

• Makassed and St. Joseph Hospitals have been designated to receive infected COVID-19 patients who need medical attention as well suspected cases and have made the following preparations:
  • St. Joseph installed external tents away from other internal departments to prevent infection of other patients in the hospital and to protect medical staff inside the building. The maternity department has been completely isolated from the hospital including patients and medical staff. The reception section has been prepared for receiving patients according to the highest standards of isolation
  • Makassed Hospital has set up a special section isolated from the rest of the hospital to receive COVID-19 cases, including the isolation of medical staff who will deal with cases
  • Augusta Victoria Hospital has assigned a special isolation section in case any of its cancer and dialysis patients are infected with coronavirus
  • Examination will be carried out in the isolated departments of the hospitals of Makassed and St. Joseph, and if there is an influx of cases, capacity can be expanded to the isolated section in AVH.
• For transfer of infected or suspected cases to the two designated hospitals, the Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance Center in Jerusalem will provide this service. It has allocated the numbers 9110* and 5848010-02
• The network stressed that Jerusalem hospitals continue to suffer from a shortage of financial resources, which hinders the provision of medical drugs and treatments and the required quantities, with the expectation that the situation in Jerusalem hospitals will worsen, especially in the event of an increase in the number of those infected, which requires urgent action to meet the needs of hospitals to reach the level of full readiness.

Situation in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO):