Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Situation Report 75

Coronavirus disease 2019?(COVID-19) Situation Report 75

Issued 6 May?2021

Highlights

Infections in both the?West Bank?and Gaza continue to decline,?raising hopes that the current waves are?coming to an end – but hospitals in both areas stay busy
Another 20,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine have?arrived in oPt, a donation from the Russian?Federation

World Hand Hygiene Day

This week marked World Hand Hygiene Day 2021, a reminder to continue to pursue optimal hand hygiene action at the point of care.?“Seconds save lives – clean your hands!”

?supplies (alcohol-based hand rub, water, soap, towels) should be accessible anywhere to everyone

WHO preparedness, readiness and response

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

Coordination,?planning?and monitoring?

The state of emergency over COVID-19 decreed by President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank has been extended again for a further 30 days, from Monday 3 May until the start of June?2021
In Gaza, local authorities have eased the previously imposed restrictions, as follows:
Lifting nightly curfew, allowing pedestrian movement and opening of shops
Allowing vehicular movement until 12am on all days of the week, including Friday and Saturday
Reopening mosques for night prayers.

Surveillance

The WHO risk assessment remains high:?COVID-19?infections in the Gaza Strip continue to?account for?the majority?of?all?cases in the oPt,?but active?new cases?are?slowly?in?decline,?and the positivity testing rate?is also down;?cases in the?West Bank?are following the same pattern –?but?hospitals?there?remain busy with critically ill?patients
The breakdown of active COVID-19 cases across the oPt is as follows:?Gaza Strip (63.2%), followed by?the West Bank governorates of Nablus (13.2%), Tulkarm (7.2%), Ramallah?(4.1%),?Jenin?(3.8%),?Hebron?(3.2%),?Qalqilya?(1.5%)?and Bethlehem and Tubas both?(0.7%)
The overall Case Fatality Rate (CFR)?across oPt?remains at?1.1 %.?The CFR is the proportion of deaths among identified confirmed?cases.

Laboratory testing and diagnostics

The number of tests conducted in the oPt has decreased by?20% during the reporting period (30 April?– 6 May), with?23,718?tests?conducted
In the Gaza Strip, an average of?1,644?tests per day have been conducted over the past week (30?April?– 6 May) with a positivity rate of?28%.

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

The?overall occupancy rate of COVID-19 dedicated hospital beds in the?Gaza Strip is?43%, with?250?of 587?beds occupied.?Currently,?35?of the?77?Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds?(45%) are occupied, with four patients requiring?invasive mechanical ventilation
The medical response situation?in the West Bank?remains?largely unchanged: ICU bed occupancy?is a little lower at 78%?(136?ICU beds?occupied) – but?40 patients?are still on?ventilators
WHO?has?concluded a training on critical care nursing in the Gaza Strip, supported by WHO?EMRO.?A total of 190 nurses, including 10 coached trainers, have benefited from the conducted activity funded by the oPt Humanitarian Fund.().

Maintaining Essential Health Services

WHO signs?$1.5m?deal?with the Swiss?government to enhance trauma?services in?Gaza

WHO?has signed a $1.5m?agreement with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to help strengthen the trauma and emergency care system in?Gaza.?This new grant will enhance pre-hospital care services, including Emergency Medical Teams and the Ambulance Dispatch Center.?Pictured here the Head of WHO in oPt Dr Richard?Peeperkorn?with the Director of the SDC in West Bank and Gaza Ms. Marie?Gilbrin. WHO thanks SDC for its continuing support and generosity towards the people of?Gaza.

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

Latest?vaccine?arrivals

PA Health Minister Mai?Alkaileh?stated on??(20 April)?that the OPt?has bought 4.5 million doses of the?Pfizer and Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines at a cost of $27.5 million.?Alkaila?said the vaccines will arrive ‘soon’
A donation of 20,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine?from the Russian Federation?to the PA?MoH?arrived in?the oPt?on?29 April.

Vaccination coverage

301,643?people have been vaccinated in total across the oPt:?263,475?in the West Bank?(excluding East Jerusalem), and 38,168?in Gaza.?These figures represent around 6%?of the total Palestinian?population,?and?8% of those targeted for vaccination, according to the PA?MoH
Of these numbers, the total who have received their second dose are?193,127?in the oPt overall?(excluding East Jerusalem)
According to the report received from the COGAT,?Israel completed?on 20 April its ‘second phase’ of vaccinating?around?110,000 Palestinian workers.?These?numbers are included in the total numbers of vaccinated stated?above
A recent study from the Public Health England shows that?the UK COVID-19 vaccination?programme?has prevented 10,400 deaths in those aged 60 and older up to the end of March, referring to the use of its three approved vaccines including AstraZeneca ().

Don’t miss our next SITREP which will be in two weeks’ time on 20 May 2021

HAPPY EID AL-FITR!