Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Update 35

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report 35

occupied Palestinian territory, issued 9 July 2020

Information for period: 5 March – 9?July?2020

Highlights

The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 continues to surge in the West?Bank?with?an?average of?383 new?cases?per day?since July 1
The Palestinian Authority has?extended the?movement restrictions from?8?July?for a further?five days

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).

Below are our Key Performance Indicators for our COVID-19 response:

Coordination,?planning?and monitoring

The suspension of bilateral agreements and coordination in response to Israel’s threatened annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank continues to impact access to essential services outside for referral patients as well as the import and customs clearance of essential medical equipment and supply shipments.?The?Humanitarian Coordinator and?key partners?are working to?address the clearance of humanitarian shipments and coordinate exit of urgent?medical referral?cases

Surveillance

The WHO risk assessment remains very high for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)
The total number of cases in oPt is?5,829?including?5,757?cases in the West Bank and?72?in the?Gaza Strip, no new cases reported?in?Gaza in the same period
The?number of?people testing?positive for SARS-CoV-2?continues to?increase
Since 1 July (to 9 July) the West Bank?(including East Jerusalem)?has averaged 383 cases per day in July, with 3,064 new?cases?and?16?fatalities
Most cases recorded?are?from?Hebron (4,027) East Jerusalem (609), Jerusalem (281), Bethlehem (20), Nablus (210) and Ramallah (157).?Other governorates (Salfit,?Qalqiliya, Tubas,?Tulkarm, Jenin) continue to record low case numbers.?A total of 14?health workers are among those confirmed cases
Twenty-three?patients are in a?serious?condition, with three patients requiring?mechanical?ventilation?(as of?9?July)
The Prime Minister’s office extended the lockdown from?8 July for five more?days allowing only pharmacies, bakeries and supermarkets to open;?factories and banks?are exempt?with safety measures;?movement of goods allowed within governorates
The Palestinian Authority warned those?who violate the safety measures are subjected to fines, closure of their commercial establishments and detention.
Cases are expected to continue to rise in?hot spots and most affected communities?due to challenges related to:?staff shortages impacting contact tracing and follow up of mild cases in home isolation;? supply?gaps affecting infection protection control and case management, including local shortages of personal protective equipment for frontline health workers;?the need for?public health protection measures like physical distancing and hygiene measures?to?be?adhered to; difficulty complying with home isolation for mild and moderate cases due to over-crowded living conditions
To-date, the Ministry of Health (MoH) reported a total of 699?cases have recovered:?639?in the West Bank (including 174 in East Jerusalem) and?60?in Gaza.?Twenty-five?people have died,?with an overall case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.42%
Less than?half (47%) of all confirmed cases are male (1,927?cases) and about 83% of all cases (3,063?cases) are below the age of 50 years in the oPt, excluding East Jerusalem.

Laboratory diagnostics ?

A total of?128,797?laboratory samples have been tested for COVID-19 according to the?MoH,?with 13,025?samples tested in the Gaza Strip.

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

19,255 Palestinians are in quarantine (home or facility-based) to prevent further spread of the disease
In Gaza,?311?people are in one of the seven?operational quarantine facilities which include health facilities,?hotels or other designated buildings
In continuation of their partnership to strengthen local capacities in responding to COVID-19, WHO supported MDM-France in conducting the following activities during the reporting period:
- On 5 July, a training was organized for 14?MoH?officials?in Gaza Strip, to strengthen their knowledge on operational policies of?Respiratory?Triage?Center (RTC)
- From 6- 8 July,?40 participants from MOH attended practical training?and?a simulation??? at the?RTC?near Al-Aqsa Hospital to?strengthen?their?capacity?to deal with and manage COVID-19 suspected cases?in safe and effective manner.

East Jerusalem?

As of July 9?(14:00), the?Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health reported 609 COVID-19 cases in East Jerusalem. Three deaths have been reported (CFR- 0.49%) and 174 have recovered in the same period.

Health Cluster update

Click on the image to read the Health Cluster’s latest Bulletin.??

The Health?Cluster held a meeting chaired?by WHO and co-chaired?by?the Palestinian?Authority’s??Minister?of Health?Dr. Mai Al-Kaila on 8 July. Partners discussed the operational needs in the West Bank with?a?focus on?the?COVID-19?challenges?in Hebron, Bethlehem and?Nablus.

The?MoH?presented the emerging immediate needs for the most affected governorates alongside the revised?strategy?to address case management?of COVID-19 cases. The?MoH?also called upon UNRWA and NGOs to provide support?to?effectively control the outbreak.

Mental Health and Psychosocial?Support (MHPSS)?

Strengthened human resources capacity and more essential supplies to manage the outbreak have been identified as priority needs by the Health Cluster:

Laboratory testing items: the MoH is scaling up its capacity and is currently conducting up to 5,000 COVID-19 PCR tests daily; but needs for testing is up to 150,000 tests per month until the end of 2020
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) items for frontline health workers: despite substantial supplies of PPE items delivered, there remain shortages, especially in the West Bank governorates severely hit by the outbreak and in the Gaza Strip; MoH estimates that at least 2 million gloves, up to 750,000 surgical masks and 100,000 N-95 respirators would be needed every month until the end of 2020
At least an additional 50 sets of medical equipment items for intensive care of COVID-19 patients are required to cover the immediate needs in Gaza treatment centres and up to 100 in the West Bank treatment centres
Essential health services such as sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child healthcare and nutrition services, access to non-communicable disease (NCD) treatment, emergency care services, access to cancer treatment should be maintained.

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