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Coronavirus disease 2019?(COVID-19) Situation Report 83

Issued 21 October?2021

As?of this issue biweekly COVID-19 Situation Reports?will be discontinued?and?replaced by?monthly reporting.

Highlights

• New?COVID-19 infections?appear to be slowing down?across the oPt?particularly in the?West Bank,?while?over?three quarters?of all active cases?remaining?in?Gaza.
• Positivity?in the oPt?continues to decline reaching 11.69%.?Slight increase in Rt?however it?remains?under 1.

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?continues in place.
• Implementation of third ‘booster’ dose to medical staff and priority groups such as elderly and sick.

Surveillance

• Amidst?the?fourth?COVID-19?wave in the West?Bank and the third wave in the Gaza Strip,?the?overall?number of active cases is declining?to11,527?COVID-19?cases?detected?across the?oPt.?Infections in the Gaza?Strip?still?account?for?most of?all?cases,?at?81.7%.
• In the West?Bank,?numbers of?cases?are?slowing down,?and are now at?2,105. Positivity?dropped?to?4.98?% from?7.31%?a fortnight ago.
• The?overall Case Fatality Rate (CFR)?across oPt?remains?at?1%.?The CFR is the proportion of?deaths?among identified confirmed?cases.

Laboratory testing and diagnostics

• The number of tests conducted in the oPt?over?the?third?week of?October?stands at?34,940?tests, and an overall positivity of?11.69%.
• In the Gaza Strip, testing has decreased, with an average of?2,080 tests per day?over the past two weeks, while?positivity?remains?rather high?at an average of?22%.
• On 17 October, WHO delivered to the Gaza Central Lab?Stores 30 kits of?SARS-CoV-2 real-time?PCR?mutations detection tests, that are enough to conduct a total of 2,880 tests. The procured items will enable health authorities to?detect the main four SARS-CoV-2 variants:?B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma) and B.1.617 (Delta). This activity was made possible with support from the Humanitarian Pooled Fund.

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

• In the Gaza Strip, the number of patients requiring hospitalization?is?gradually decreasing,?with?an?overall bed occupancy?of?33%, with?181?beds out of a total of 555 currently occupied.
• Bed occupancy at intensive care units (ICU) is also?improving, with?25?patients (28%) occupying a total capacity of 90 beds, including?two?patients?on mechanical ventilation.
• In?the West Bank, hospitals continue to respond to?COVID-19?situation?accordingly: ICU bed occupancy?is?55% (compared to 79%?in?the?previous?report)?with?58?ICU beds occupied out of?101,?and?11?patients on ventilators?(down?from 19?two weeks ago).
• As part of its ongoing efforts in supporting the health system’s response to the COVID-19 emergency, WHO?is supporting Gaza health authorities?in conducting?a series of?trainings?for a total of 100 nurses and 50 doctors to build their capacity in intensive care management of COVID-19 patients.?So far, a total of 33?and 45?junior doctors and?nurses have?benefited?from?the?trainings, which?use?combined?methods including printed material, face-to-face presentations, in addition to practical workstations.
• As part of the International Infection Prevention and Control Week, WHO supported health authorities in conducting a series of activities to raise the awareness of healthcare workers and those attending to health facilities on the importance of infection prevention and control. The activities included 6 lectures targeting healthcare workers in public hospitals and primary healthcare centers; a seminar with participation from 150 senior?Ministry of Health (MoH)?personnel, public health experts, and partner organizations; and an awareness raising campaign for the general public, including in five primary schools (refer to the above pictures). More than 7,000?people, including 3,500 school children, are estimated to have benefited from the conducted activities.

Maintaining Essential Services

Vaccination?Numbers?/?News?(as of 21 October)

• 1,522,054?people have been vaccinated?in total across the oPt:?1,055,435?in the West Bank, and?466,619?in Gaza.?These figures represent around?50.52%?of the?target?Palestinian?population?(16?years and above).
• Of these numbers,?a?total?of?1,244,873?are?fully vaccinated:?924,392?in West Bank, and?320,481?in Gaza.
• Administering?of third?“booster dose” of the vaccine?for priority groups is ongoing?across the?oPt.?4,064 doses?were administered in West Bank and?6,216?in Gaza.