Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Update 32

Coronavirus disease 2019?(COVID-19) Situation Report 32

occupied Palestinian territory, issued 11?June 2020
Information for period: 5 March – 11?June 2020

Highlights

A total of?665?COVID-19 cases in oPt:?593?in?West Bank?and?72?in Gaza Strip
WHO procured and delivered four?shipments?of essential medical equipment and supplies in the reporting?period
WHO has issued a new interim guidance on the use of medical and fabric masks?in the context of COVID-19

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 situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt).

On June 2,?local health authorities in the Gaza Strip welcomed two pallets of lab supplies,?including 8,000 swabs,?from WHO to?expand?COVID-19?testing capacity?

Key?performance?indicators?(Feb 25 – May 31)??

Coordination,?planning?and monitoring

On 7 June, a team from WHO, headed by the head of?Gaza?sub-office,?conducted a monitoring?visit?to?Gaza?European Hospital?and the?isolation?facilities?in order to?advise on?preparedness and assess capacities?to manage and treat COVID-19 cases?

WHO?participated in?a?visit?of?a?technical?delegation from?the People’s Republic of?China?to the Ministry of Health?to share?knowledge and?experience?with the COVID-19?response.

Surveillance

The total number of cases in oPt is?665, including?593?cases in the West Bank and?72?in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, most cases are from East Jerusalem (180), Jerusalem Governorate (140), followed by?Hebron (88)?Ramallah (77)?and?Bethlehem (59).?A total of 11 health workers are among those confirmed cases
To-date, the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported a total of?558?cases have recovered:?517?in West?Bank?(including?118?in East Jerusalem)?and?41?in?Gaza?and five?people have died in the oPt:?case?fatality rate?(CFR) is 0.81%
About?two-thirds (63%) of all confirmed cases are male (309?cases) and about 83% of all cases (403?cases) are below the age of 50 years in the oPt, excluding East Jerusalem.

WHO helped coordinate the entry of two PCR machines, donated by the Government of Turkey, through Erez crossing into the Gaza Strip,?on June?4.?In the same week, WHO delivered laboratory testing supplies to support COVID-19 testing of more than 600 people.

Laboratory diagnostics?

A total of?64,277?laboratory samples have been tested for COVID-19 according to the?MoH, with 11,584 samples tested in the Gaza Strip
In the reporting period (from May 29 – June 11), WHO has procured and delivered the following items to health authorities in the Gaza Strip?(see images above and below):
- laboratory testing supplies to support the testing of more than 600 people for COVID-19,?financed through?the oPt Humanitarian?Pooled?Fund
- two pallets of lab supplies including 8,000 swabs on June 2 to enable the screening of more people for COVID-19, supported by?the?oPt Humanitarian?Pooled?Fund
- essential?haemodialysis?pharmaceuticals?to maintain life-saving support for?approximately 900?patients, supported by the Government of?the?Czech Republic
WHO helped coordinate the entry of two PCR machines, donated by the Government of Turkey to the Palestinian Authority, through Erez crossing into the Gaza?Strip.? The machines will double the testing capacity of local health authorities in Gaza, enabling COVID-19 testing of 2,000 samples per day.

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

According to the?MoH,?2,287?Palestinians are in quarantine (home or facility-based) for monitoring of their symptoms and ensuring early detection of cases
In Gaza,?344?people are in one of the?seven?operational quarantine facilities which include designated health facilities,?schools?or hotels
WHO is supporting the?MoH?in assessing the maternity and?newborn?units in?six?public and?four?NGO hospitals,?by?evaluating the infection prevention and control procedures?in the context of COVID-19, and testing the units’ preparedness for responding to?outbreaks

As part of the partnership to strengthen local capacities in responding to COVID-19,?with EU humanitarian aid,?WHO supported MDM-France?to?conduct?two?simulation exercises, targeting?more than?40?participants from the emergency medical services?teams of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).??

The training, which was?conducted on 1 and 6 June in Khan Younis and Gaza?city, aimed to enhance PRCS staff capacity in identifying COVID-19 cases based on?MoH?and WHO criteria, to ensure adherence to?infection prevention and control measures while handling COVID-19 suspected cases, and to improve coordination and communication among dispatch, paramedics and receiving facilities.?The training also assessed staff knowledge of?the correct referral pathway and evaluated the documentation and registration of suspect cases
Additionally,?a committee of WHO, MDM-F and?MoH?conducted a meeting to?review the operational policies of Respiratory Triage Centers?on June 8.

East Jerusalem?

As of June 11,?2020?(10:00?am), the?Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health reported 180 COVID-19 cases in East Jerusalem. Two deaths have been reported (CFR- 1.1%) and 155 recovered in the same period
Like other hospitals, the East Jerusalem Hospital Network (EJHN) facilities operate under emergency measures. Hospitals had to scale down their health services and prioritize essential interventions. Referrals have been restricted to urgent cases and those requiring time-dependent treatments or interventions. Reduction in health service utilization and referrals resulted in a scaled-down operational capacity and hence reduced revenues
EJHN hospitals reported a significant decline in outpatient consultations (72%), elective surgeries (66%), essential surgeries (74%), chemotherapy sessions for cancer patients (43%) in April 2020 as compared to April 2019.??Similarly, referrals to the East Jerusalem hospitals went down substantially, by 72% from the West Bank and 59% from Gaza Strip, for the same period.

Ensuring?access to?essential?health?Services?in Gaza Strip

As the health system mobilizes its scarce resources to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages of essential drugs and disposables have reached critical low levels and are affecting provision of critical health services for patients with chronic conditions in Gaza Strip.
WHO handed over life-saving haemodialysis drug supplies to the local health authorities in the Gaza Strip on June?8.?These essential drug supplies will help maintain life-saving support for up to 900 patients, including at least 821 regular haemodialysis patients.?This delivery was made possible with the generous support of?the Government of Czech Republic.