Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Situation Report 77

Coronavirus disease 2019?(COVID-19) Situation Report 77

Issued 17?June?2021

Highlights

Active cases of COVID-19 are continuing?to drop?steadily?across the oPt,?with positivity testing rates?showing a marked decline?especially?in the West Bank
Hospitals?are?benefiting?as a result: just two people are on ICU ventilators in the West Bank, while?in Gaza?there are?three
100,000 doses of a new vaccine ‘Sputnik-Light’?are delivered to?the Palestinian Authority (PA):?a bilateral purchase from?the?Russian?‘Gamaleya’ research?lab, this?vaccine is?administered as a single?dose.

Key Performance Indicators for COVID-19 Response in oPt

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 is still in force until early July 2021
On 8 June,?WHO facilitated a visit of the Humanitarian Coordinator?(HC),?Ms?Lynn Hastings,?to the?Turkish Hospital in the?Gaza Strip. During her visit, the HC met with health officials and?was?briefed?on the humanitarian health situation, including needs and challenges,?and discussed potential?support from the humanitarian community.

Surveillance

The WHO risk assessment remains?high, despite a drop in active cases?across the oPt as a whole.?COVID-19?infections in the?Gaza?Strip?still?account for?almost all?cases, at?93%
In the West Bank,?the situation?has significantly improved, with just 267 active cases, while?testing has increased?again?with?positivity?dropping right down to 1.5%
The breakdown of active COVID-19 cases across the oPt is as follows: Gaza Strip (92.7%), followed by the West Bank governorates of Nablus?(2.8%), Jenin (1.2%), Ramallah?(0.9%),?Tulkarm and Tubas both (0.5%),?Hebron?and Jericho both (0.2%) and Bethlehem?(0.1%)
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?10% during the reporting period (11?– 17?June), with?16,382?tests?conducted
In the Gaza Strip, COVID-19 testing has?picked up after the temporary drop during the recent hostilities.?An average of?921?tests per day have been conducted over the past?two?weeks?(4 – 17?June) with a positivity rate of?21%.

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?16%, with?69?of?441?beds?occupied.?Currently,?ten?of the?41?Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds?(24%) are?occupied, with three patients on invasive?ventilation
The medical response situation?in the West Bank?continues to improve significantly: ICU bed occupancy?is?lower?again?at?15%?(13?ICU beds out of 86 occupied) – with?just?two?patients?now?on ventilators?compared to 40 five weeks ago.

Risk Communications and Community Engagement – Wear Your Mask!

Almost one year ago, WHO launched the?#WearAMask challenge!

By wearing a mask, you are sending a message of solidarity and protecting people, especially those most vulnerable, from COVID-19.

One year later, active COVID-19 cases have dropped?across the oPt.?Wearing a mask, along with other protective measures, helps stop transmission of the virus.

Let’s keep wearing our masks until every person has been vaccinated!

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

Latest Vaccine Arrivals

100,000?doses of a new vaccine called “Sputnik-light” were delivered to the PA on 12 June 2021. A bilateral purchase from the Russian ‘Gamaleya’ research lab, this vaccine is administered as a single dose
On 2 June, COVAX delivered 72,000 AstraZeneca?vaccines, of which 62,400 doses went to the Nablus cold store in West Bank, and 9,600 doses to Gaza. More doses are due to arrive in Gaza from the West Bank shipment in time
One week previously, on 25 May, the third COVAX shipment arrived in oPt: 102,960 doses of Pfizer vaccines, of which 56,160 doses went to West Bank and 46,800 doses to Gaza.

Numbers of Vaccinated (as of 17?June 2021)

436,275?people have been vaccinated in total across the oPt:?383,984?in?the West Bank?(excluding East Jerusalem), and?52,291?in Gaza.?These figures represent around 8.7%?of the total Palestinian?population
Of these numbers, the total who have received their second dose?are?260,713?in the oPt overall?(excluding East Jerusalem)
The circa 110,000 Palestinian workers who have been vaccinated by Israel are included in the total numbers of vaccinated stated above
In the Gaza?Strip, there are currently?around?30?active vaccination centers, in addition to?other?hospitals, providing COVID-19 vaccines to people above 30 years of age
From 31 May, local authorities in Gaza started?mandatory?COVID-19 vaccination for all public sector employees,?starting?with staff of ministries of Health, Education, and Interior.

Global Vaccine News

On 1 June,?WHO approved?China’s Sinovac?Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the second Chinese?vaccine to receive the WHO’s green light.?‘CoronaVac’?is a two-dose vaccine?already being developed in several?countries around the world ()
WHO has assigned simple, easy-to-say-and-remember labels for key variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, using letters of the Greek?alphabet.?See the new labels?