麻豆APP

Coronavirus disease 2019?(COVID-19) Situation Report 51

occupied Palestinian territory, issued 5 November 2020
Information for period: 5 March – 5 November 2020

Highlights

• Health Authorities in the Gaza Strip are reporting?continued?shortages?of laboratory supplies for COVID-19 testing
• WHO secured a further US $2.6 million?to support the COVID-19?response
• Rafah border?crossing?between Gaza and Egypt opened from 2 to 5 November

This week, two courses helping to build health workers’ skills and knowledge to support the response to COVID-19 continued. The first series of Basic Life Support (BLS) training for the southern region of the West Bank was completed by the Palestinian National Institute of Public Health / WHO in collaboration with the MoH Emergency and Disaster Unit. A total of 173 doctors, nurses, and emergency medical teams working in MoH and private emergency units were trained. A further 50 doctors and nurses attended the BASIC (Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care) course, conducted in partnership with Juzoor for Health and Social Development and Augusta Victoria Hospital. Training for both courses will continue until the end of the year.???

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???

• WHO has?received?$1.9 million?in funding from the oPt Humanitarian Fund?to be used?to?procure and deliver essential laboratory?supplies and equipment?to scale up testing?in?the?West Bank and Gaza?for 70,000?people;?to?support?case management and infection prevention?and control training for 100?health workers;?to?support risk communications?outreach and?the temporary coordination mechanism?to support Palestinian patients and companions required by Israel to apply for permits to access essential health services outside?the Gaza Strip
• WHO received a further?$814,000?from WHO headquarters?to?mobilize?lab and testing supplies for?Gaza.

Surveillance??

• The WHO risk assessment remains very high
• From?1- 31 October,?the total number of COVID-19 cases rose by 14,721 cases (on average 474 cases per?day); and 187 deaths (6 per?day) for?the?same period
• The?Gaza?Strip?continues to account for most of the active cases (36 %) in the oPt,?followed?by Nablus in the West Bank (16%),?and?by Bethlehem (11.5%), Hebron (7%),?Tulkarm?(3.7%), with?a significant drop in East Jerusalem (3%)
• Rafah border?crossing?between Gaza and Egypt opened for four days, from 2 to 5 November. As of 4 November,?758?Palestinians?crossed into?Gaza, and 2,270 people?exited?to Egypt. Returnees were asked to?present?a?negative?PCR?COVID-19?test certificate (not older than 48 hours), while those who could not obtain a certificate were?tested upon arrival at the crossing point.

Laboratory diagnostics???

• A total of?548,307?laboratory samples have been tested for COVID-19 according?to?MoH.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Isolation and Case Management, Operations Support and Logistics?

• 12,979?Palestinians are in quarantine (home or facility-based) to prevent further spread of the disease
• Capacity building activities continue, targeting health workers in the Gaza Strip. A fourth group of 15 junior doctors have started training for intensive care management of COVID-19 patients, funded by the Government of Canada; the sixth group of 18 maternal and child health workers have also completed infection prevention training, conducted by the Palestinian National Institute of Public Health / WHO
• WHO has delivered 10,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)?items, which will be used?bymedical?and non-medical staff working at Gaza’s five main emergency departments, including the European Gaza Hospital (Gaza’s designated COVID-19 facility) and?at?the Respiratory Triage Centres (RTCs) –?tent?facilities?used to screen patients for COVID-19 before they enter the hospital, to prevent transmission of COVID-19 into hospital?facilities
• WHO has also delivered eight bedside kits to five emergency?departments.?These kits will?strengthen?preparedness?at the emergency departments?and will be used to treat severe injuries in?any future emergency or disaster.

East Jerusalem

• As of November?4,?20?COVID-19 patients are being treated in?the two main?dedicated COVID-19 hospitals?of?the East Jerusalem Hospital Network. Of these 14?are?at St Joseph Hospital and 6?are at Al-?Makassed?Hospital.?In addition, four COVID-19 patients are being treated at Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), including two patient companions. A further five health workers at Al-Makassed?and three at AVH have COVID-19?infections, while two from St. Joseph remain in quarantine.

Sustaining Essential Health Services: WHO Trauma Program

• WHO is still holding weekly online distance-training sessions in Gaza run by?NYCMedics (New York City Medics),?a disaster relief organisation that deploys mobile medical teams?worldwide.?Nearly 150 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel?have started their third week of a?six-week?training course. The course is an interactive refresher training?program designed?to improve and?update knowledge and skills
• Two leading international orthopaedic and anaesthesia experts are giving weekly live consultation lessons to Limb Reconstruction Centre physicians and orthopaedic surgical residents. Ministry of Health staff join the sessions, holding discussions and examining case studies dealing with infections and pain management?to receive?new and up-to-date information about medications and medical practices.

Risk Communications and?Community?Engagement???

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