The Spread of Covid-19 in Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria (Updated to October 26, 2020)

Overview

• The situation in the Gaza Strip:
  • This past week the number of active Covid-19 cases in the Gaza Strip continued to rise, and as of October 25, 2020, stood at 2,080, with 872 new cases.
  • A number of areas where active cases spiked were designated red and locked down. However, so far the Hamas administration has abstained from imposing a full lockdown on the Gaza Strip and instead focuses on the red areas. Despite the rise in active cases the Hamas administration is preparing to continue partially opening schools and universities.
  • Weddings, mourning tents and other large gatherings continue to be the main vectors for infection transmission. Gazans are called on to avoid gathering and to take precautionary measures.
  • The public health system in the Gaza Strip has begun making preparations for the annual winter flu season along with Covid-19, and has called on local residents to be vaccinated at pharmacies.
• The situation in Judea and Samaria:
  • The curve in Judea and Samaria continues flattening, but the number of active remains high and stood at 4,389 on October 25, 2020. This past week 2,510 new cases were detected. There are 41 patients in ICUs, eight on ventilators. Actually, the number of active cases is far larger than what is reported but they have not been detected because of the low number of tests.
  • This past week 36 new Covid-19 deaths were recorded, bringing the total number to 417 as of October 25, 2020.
  • The number of active cases in the east Jerusalem neighborhoods continues to decline. According to the ministry of health in Ramallah, as of October 25, 2020, the number of active cases stood at 458, down from 598 a week ago. According to the Jerusalem municipality, the number of verified cases on October 25, 2020 was 271, down from 450 a week ago. In the east Jerusalem neighborhoods as well, the number of active cases is higher than reported because of the low number of tests and the lack of systematic reporting.
  • The Palestinian public health system and government continue warning that gatherings, weddings and mourning tents are the main vectors for the rise in transmission and should be avoided. The security apparatuses in Judea and Samaria are trying to prevent Palestinians from gathering in large numbers.
  • Israeli Arabs and Arabs living in the Palestinian Authority (PA) territories continue reinfecting one another. This past week a wedding of Israeli Arabs was held in the village of Barta’a on the Palestinian side of the village. Many weddings have also been held in the villages surrounding Jerusalem and at least some of them were of residents of east Jerusalem.

The Gaza Strip

Extent of the Covid-19 infection

In the Gaza Strip the number of new and active cases continues rising. Between October 20 and 26, 2020, 872 new cases were detected. As of October 26, 2020, the number of active cases was 2,080.

The increase of active cases inside the Gaza Strip over the past week

Preventive measures to halt the spread of Covid-19 in the Gaza Strip

• Given the rise in the number of active cases spokesmen for the ministries of health and the interior in Gaza announced the lockdown of red epicenters. The lockdowns include the closing of schools, mosques and markets, as well keeping people from entering and leaving. The epicenters designated as red were the following (October 25, 2020):
  • Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip: 811 active cases were detected in the area, almost half of the active cases in the northern Gaza Strip.
  • The Sajaiya area in the Gaza district: 527 active cases were detected, about 20% of the active cases in the district.
  • The al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip: 143 active cases were detected, almost half of the active cases in the central Gaza Strip.
  • Part of the al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City: 523 active cases were detected.
• Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior, called on the public to cooperate with the epidemiological research teams, stressing that the ministry of the interior would not hesitate to impose a lockdown on any area whose residents did not follow public health guidelines and take precautionary measures. He also again stressed the ban on gatherings, erecting mourning tents and weddings, because most of the cases transmitted were found in such locations. He also stressed that the curfew would continue throughout the Gaza Strip (al-Ra’i news agency, October 22, 2020; website of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, October 22, 2020).

   
Right: Tawfiq Abu Na’im, deputy minister of the interior (center), supervises the enforcement of the lockdown and curfew in the red areas in the Gaza district (Facebook page of the emergency committee for combatting Covid-19 in the Gaza district, October 23, 2020). Left: Police enforce the lockdown in Beit Hanoun (Twitter account of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, October 23, 2020).

 
Enforcing the lockdown and curfew in the al-Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City (Facebook page of the emergency committee for combatting Covid-19 in the Gaza district, October 24, 2020).

• According to Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra the spread of Covid-19 is spiking in the red areas in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City. That, he said, was after the public health system had previously been successful in flattening the curve. The current spike endangers control over the spread of the disease. He repeatedly stressed that the spearhead of gaining control over the disease is the degree to which local residents follow public health guidelines and take precautionary measures. He said they had identified a rise in the number of active cases in places where weddings had been held and mourning tents had been erected (Dunia al-Watan, October 24, 2020).

Making preparations for the winter

• Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra called on Gazans to be vaccinated against seasonal flu, the service is available at local pharmacies. In the near future vaccination will also be available at first aid centers (al-Ra’i news agency, October 24, 2020).

Easing the lockdown

• Despite the rise in the number of active cases and the stricter implementation of preventive measures in red areas, preparations are being made to continue the partial reopening of schools. The ministry of education completed preparations for the return of 7^th through 11^th grade students on October 26, 2020. According to Mahmoud Matar, head of the department of school supervision, classes will be held three days a week with half the number of students per class. He said studies would not be resumed in red areas (al-Ra’i news agency, October 25, 2020). The ministry of education and higher education in Gaza announced that studies would be partially resumed in institutions of higher education. First year students, students in practical courses and candidates for advanced degrees began studying on October 25, 2020 (Facebook page of the ministry of education and higher education, October 22, 2020.

Foreign Aid for the Fight against Covid-19 in Gaza

• Foreign aid to combat the coronavirus continues to flow into the Gaza Strip:
  • The W.H.O. delivered 5,000 swabs to the Gaza Strip of 120,000 swabs paid for by Britain (Facebook page of the W.H.O. in the territories, October 22, 2020).
  • The W.H.O. delivered a machine to the Gaza Strip for the production of RNA^[1] which reduces almost by half the time necessary for the result of a Covid-19 test. In addition, ten kits for RNA production were delivered, which make it possible to carry out up to 20,000 Covid-19 tests (Facebook page of the W.H.O. in the territories, October 25, 2020).
  •  the ministry of health in Gaza received ten ventilators and protective suits from Cinta Gaza Malaysia, and the Association of Malaysian Institutions (website of the ministry of health in Gaza, October 25, 2020).
  • The W.H.O. participated on a program funded by the Canadian government to train 60 junior doctors and 200 nurses in the protocol for ICU care of Covid-19 patients. The first stage of the program was attended by 15 doctors and 42 nurses (Facebook page of the W.H.O. in the territories, October 21, 2020).

Judea and Samaria

Extent of Covid-19 infection in Judea and Samaria

Overview

The curve of verified active cases in Judea and Samaria if flattening but the numbers remain high. This past week 2,510 new Covid-19 cases were detected. As of October 26, 2020, the number of active cases in Judea and Samaria stood at 4,389, down from 4,411 on October 18, 2020. This past week 36 Palestinians died, bringing the number to 417. Forty-one Palestinians are in ICUs, eight on ventilators.

• The list of senior Fatah and PLO figures who were infected by the coronavirus now includes Azzam al-Ahmed, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee and Fatah’s Central Committee, and Ahmed Majdalani, PA minister of welfare. No change has been reported in the condition of Saeb Erekat, which last week was defined as “critical.”
• Dr. Kamal al-Shakhra, spokesman for the ministry of health in Ramallah, was interviewed by Radio Voice of Palestine. He said the Covid-19 situation in the PA was stable and that the daily number of new cases was between 300 and 500. He said many Palestinians refused to be tested, and warned that anyone who had Covid-19 symptoms and delayed being tested could find himself in need of intensive care and might die (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, October 24, 2020).

Covid-19 infection in Judea and Samaria since October 10, 2020

• Ayman Sayif, appointed by Professor Ronni Gamzu, the head of the Israeli Coronavirus Project, to head the Covid-19 task force for the Arab sector, said that one of the causes of the renewed outbreak of Covid-19 after the situation had improved was Israeli Arabs’ going shopping at the markets in cities such as Ramallah, Tulkarm and Hebron, places where, he said, no tests were administered, leading to a high level of hidden infection. In addition, because of the ban on weddings in Israel, Israeli Arabs sometimes choose to hold them on the Palestinian side of the village of Barta’a, part of which is Israeli and part Palestinian. He said dozens of such events had been held (Israeli business newspaper Calcalist, October 25, 2020). It is apparently the familiar situation of mutual infection: Israeli Arabs go to the cities in Judea and Samaria and are infected by local residents and at the same time infect them.

     
Guests dance during a wedding on the Palestinian side of Barta’a. No masks and no social distancing YouTube, October 22 and 23, 2020).

Geographic Distribution of COVID-19 Epicenters

Overview

• This past week the number of Covid-19 cases in the Hebron district continued to decrease. The Nablus district has the largest number of cases, followed by the Bethlehem district. The distribution of active cases in Judea and Samaria (4,389), by district, as of October 25, 2020, was as follows: Nablus, 862; Bethlehem, 833; Hebron, 749; Ramallah, 362; the villages around Jerusalem, 2152; Qalqilya, 262; Jericho, 222; Tulkarm, 453; Jenin, 268, Salfit, 103; and Tubas, 60.

The distribution of active cases in the various districts

Hebron district

After months of having the largest number of active cases, the number declined to 749 on October 25, 2020, down from 784.

Number of active cases in the Hebron district

Nablus district

This past week there was an increase in the number of active cases. As of October 25, 2020, were there 862 active cases, up from 604 a week ago. The Nablus district currently has the largest number of active cases.

Bethlehem district

As of October 25, 2020, there were 883 active cases in the Bethlehem district, down from 887 a week ago

• Kamal Hamid, governor of the Bethlehem district, ordered a full lockdown of the village of Husan (west of the city of Bethlehem) because of the rise in the number of active cases. He said the main reason for the rise in Covid-19 infection was the refusal of Palestinians who work in Israel to be tested, fearing a positive result would harm their ability to support their families (Khabar Press, October 22, 2020).

Jenin district

As of October 25, 2020, there were 268 active cases in the Jenin district, down from 339 last week.

• The educational administrator in the Jenin district closed a boys’ high school in the city of Jenin because of its number of detected Covid-19 cases (Wafa, October 19, 2020).

The villages around Jerusalem

As of October 25, 2020, there were 215 active cases in the villages around Jerusalem, down from 222 a week ago.

• The joint committee of the security services in the region of the villages around Jerusalem paid visits to the wedding halls in the towns and villages northwest of Jerusalem. They told the owners that they had to close their halls (Facebook page of the friends of the Palestinian national security forces in Jerusalem and the suburbs, October 22, 2020). Despite the warning, three wedding halls remained open. They were closed and their owners were taken to the police station, where they signed a commitment to strictly carry out the emergency laws. In addition, four wedding parties were dispersed, some held in the street (website of the Palestinian police department, October 25, 2020). The police broke up a wedding held in a hall in Bir Nabala (north of Jerusalem), and its owner was taken for questioning (website of the Palestinian police department, October 23, 2020). Some of the weddings were held by couples from east Jerusalem, who held them in the PA because they were forbidden on the Israel side.

The East Jerusalem Neighborhoods

The number of active cases in east Jerusalem neighborhoods continues declining. According to the PA, as of October 25, 2020, there were 200 new cases and the number of active cases stood at 450, down from 598 on October 18, 2020. According to the Jerusalem municipality, on October 25, 2020, the number of active cases was 271, with a positive test infection rate of 9.3%. According to the PA, so far 71 Palestinians in east Jerusalem have died (80, according to the Jerusalem municipality).

The number of active Covid-19 cases in east Jerusalem, according to the PA

The total number of Covid-19 cases in east Jerusalem, according to the PA

Infection in east Jerusalem
(According to the Jerusalem municipality, October 25, 2020)

Ongoing Preparations to Combat the Coronavirus

• Mai al-Kayla, PA minister of health, signed an agreement with the chairman of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus to turn the Society’s hospital into a Covid-19 hospital for active cases from the northern West Bank (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, October 21, 2020). Anan Ateereh, deputy Nablus governor, estimated the hospital would begin operations within three or four weeks (Dunia al-Watan, October 22, 2020).

Foreign Aid for Fight against Covid-19 the PA

•  The PA received aid from the Palestinian-American Medical Association (PAMA), including 28 high-flow oxygen machines. Eighteen machines will be received by PA hospitals, and ten by hospitals in the Gaza Strip (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, October 20, 2020).

^[1] The production of RNA is the fist stage in a PCR test. According to the website of the ministry of health in Gaza, the ministry received a PCR machine from the W.H.O. that reduces the time necessary for preparing a sample for the test (website of the ministry of health in Gaza, October 25, 2020). ↑

Related Articles