Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Update 22

Information for period: 5 March -16 April 2020

*Information provided by Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health on April 16 at 12:00

Highlights

• Five health workers in occupied Palestinian territory have tested positive since 21 March
• WHO delivered five types of lab supplies to assist local health authorities to test up to 900 people for COVID-19

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

Surveillance

• The total number of cases in all oPt is 291, including 278 cases in the West Bank and 13 in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, most cases are from Jerusalem Governorate (117), followed by Ramallah (61) and Bethlehem (54). In Gaza Strip, all are from Gaza City
• No new cases were reported in Gaza for the same period
• For surveillance in East Jerusalem, see section below
• To-date, the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported a total of 62 cases have recovered and two people have died: case fatality rate (CFR) is 0.68%
• More than two third of all confirmed cases are male (196 cases) and about 80% of all cases (229 cases) are below the age of 50 years
• Five health workers in the West Bank have tested positive since 21 March.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Isolation and Case Management and Operations support and logistics

• In the West Bank, the local authorities established 16 quarantine centres to receive incoming travelers, including workers from Israel, arriving to the West Bank. Additional community-based quarantine centres are in the process of being established in Palestinian refugee camps across the West Bank
• In the Gaza Strip, nine people have recovered from COVID-19 and moved to quarantine facilities at Rafah crossing, while four confirmed cases remain in isolation at Rafah crossing field hospital
• More than 1,633 people are in one of the 22 designated quarantine facilities which include primary health facilities, schools or hotels. The number of people in quarantine has trebled because Rafah border re-opened on Tuesday 14 April to allow people in Egypt to return home to Gaza. All arrivals are quarantined in a designated quarantine facilities for 21 days
• WHO and the Health Cluster team visited one of the newly built quarantine centers in North Gaza on 13 April along with other Clusters and OCHA. A 480 rooms quarantine facility has been built to accommodate healthy adult male arrivals from Rafah or Erez crossings, in addition to 20 rooms for site staff. WHO assessed the layout, resources,  infrastructure and the needs
• The Turkish Hospital (referred also as al-Sadaqa) is now providing services to 126 people, primarily for patients with pre-existing medical conditions such as cancer or post-operative patients
• WHO and UNICEF continue to scale up procurement efforts to mobilize life-saving essential Intensive Care Unit and ventilator equipment through global supply mechanisms.

Health cluster team and WHO visit to one of the newly built quarantine centers (with accommodation pictured) located in North Gaza on 13 April with other Clusters and OCHA

East Jerusalem

• As of 16 April 2020 (12:00), the PA Ministry of Health reported 81 positive COVID-19 cases in East Jerusalem
• In supporting the response to the COVID-19 crisis, WHO is coordinating with the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network (EJHN) to address the health needs of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, focusing on provision of technical guidance, risk communication and community engagement to disseminate public health advice for prevention of COVID-19 and advocacy with donors to fund the priority needs
• The two main hospitals with isolation preparedness measures to receive COVID-19 patients are Al-Makassed Islamic Charity Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital, while Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) prepared isolated wing to receive cases from within the hospital (cancer and paediatric kidney dialysis in particular). AVH will additionally receive other patients in a backup capacity. In total, 50 beds are assigned for COVID-19 patients (22 beds in Makassed and 28 beds in St. Joseph with 8 being ICU beds for St. Joseph)
• The network’s other hospitals (St. John, Princess Basma and Palestine Red Crescent) are prepared to support the network with medical and nursing staff
• While the network is prepared to receive COVID-19 patients from Jerusalem, as referrals from the West Bank, they have acknowledged it will be challenging.
• For the non-COVID-19 patients, AVH has taken measures to continue treatment of cancer and paediatric kidney dialysis patients who already started the treatment while offering them and their families to stay overnight in associated hotels. New patients who need radiology treatment and did not start treatment yet are not being referred and patients are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Overall referrals from the West Bank have been reduced.

COVID-19 dashboard by WHO for oPt