The Spread of COVID-19 in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip (Updated to August 31, 2020)

Overview

Since the first four cases of Covid-19 were detected inside the Gaza Strip on August 24, 2020, there has been a significant increase in the number of new infections. On August 31, 2020, the total number of active cases stood at 280, 243 inside the Gaza Strip and 37 who returned from abroad. As of August 31, 2020 there have been four deaths. The number of active cases in the Palestinian Authority (PA) also rose this past week: 2,843 new cases were detected, up from 2,324 a week ago. According to reports from the ministry of health in Ramallah, as of August 31, 2020, the number of active cases was 7,086.^[1] The Hebron district remains the epicenter of most of the active cases (about 46% of the total). The numbers in the east Jerusalem neighborhoods continue trending upward. As of August 30, 2020, there were 29 patients in ICUs, four of them on ventilators. As of August 31, 2020, there have been 166 deaths, up from 147 a week ago.

The Spread of COVID-19 in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip

• The following were the main developments in COVID-19 in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip this past week:
  • After about six months of control over the spread of Covid-19 in the Gaza Strip, a rapid spread began with the detection of the first four cases within the civilian population outside the quarantine centers. One serious public health problem in Gaza is that after the first four cases, which were all detected in the same family in the al-Maghazi refugee camp, epicenters were found in a number of locations, making it difficult to isolate infected areas. A general lockdown was imposed on the Gaza Strip and other measures were taken, but so far they have not kept the disease from spreading. However, neither the spread of the Covid-19 infection nor the lockdown of the Gaza Strip has influenced balloon terrorism, which continues, directed and encouraged by Hamas.
  • in Judea and Samaria the Hebron district still has the largest number of active cases, 2,391 as of August 31, 2020. The Ramallah district has 1,059 and the villages around Jerusalem have 755. The numbers in the east Jerusalem neighborhoods continue trending upward and as of August 31, 2020, there were 2,150 cases, up from 2,007 a week ago, according to the Palestinian data.
  • In the PA preparations are being made to begin the elementary school year. In the Gaza Strip beginning the school year is being delayed, given the situation and the fact that a number of schools are being turned into quarantine centers.
  • The ministry of health in Ramallah launched a website where Palestinians can check the results of their Covid-19 tests within eight to 24 hours after the test was administered. The test results appear after an ID number is keyed in (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, August 25, 2020).

The Gaza Strip

The extent of the infection

The number of new active cases inside the Gaza Strip has risen dramatically, after months of small numbers of cases. During the past week 247 cases were detected, bringing the total number to 280 on August 31, 2020: 243 people within the local population and 37 who returned from abroad. Most of the cases are in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City, a few in Rafah and Khan Yunis. The scattered distribution of the cases indicates extensive infection, making it difficult to locate its source and prevent its spread.

Increase in the number of active cases inside the Gaza Strip

Preventive measures

Following the rise in infection, the general lockdown imposed when the first cases were detected was extended. Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior in Gaza, announced a geographical separation of the districts and neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip, declaring a ban on passage between districts (Shehab, August 28, 2020). He also said the police were making efforts to limit movement and enforce the lockdown in all districts. He called on local residents to cooperate. He said police had been instructed to treat residents tolerantly during the lockdown (website of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, August 27, 2020).

• General Mahmoud Salah, police chief in the Gaza Strip, said that although there had been a number of violations, generally speaking the public was aware of the situation and followed directives. He added that a decision had been made to increase strictness and deal more harshly with violations in locations where compliance with the directives was weak. He said the districts had been separated from one another according to a plan, but that the police might have to divide the districts according to the spread of the epidemic (al-Ra’i news agency, August 27, 2020).

   
Using earthworks to block the roads leading to the northern Gaza Strip
(Dunia al-Watan, August 27, 2020).

 
Right: Disinfecting Deir al-Balah. Left: Disinfecting the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip (Palinfo Twitter account, August 23, 2020).

• Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas administration information office in Gaza, said the government had taken care to ensure there would be sufficient supplies of food for six months. He added that the ministry of social development had mapped the location of needy families to supply them with basic necessities, ensuring they would not leave their homes. He said that so far the schools would not open, adding that some of the schools would be used as quarantine centers (Shehab, August 27, 2020).
• Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior in Gaza, stressed that all the necessary elementary services were available. He said farmers could harvest their crops and supply them to stores. He called on local residents not to hoard food, adding that efforts were being made to lengthen the hours of electricity (website of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, August 27, 2020). The chief of police said they were monitoring the markets to make sure no one raised prices (al-Ra’i news agency, August 27, 2020).
• Once the lockdown went into effect many people posted pictures of empty streets on the social networks. However, many social network users said the pictures showed only the main streets, claiming that most streets were crowded. They also claimed it was hard to demand people stay at home because their economic hardships were great and they had to go out of the house to support their families.

   
Despite the lockdown, a mass reception is held to welcome Ibrahim al-Bitar, released from an Israeli jail after 17 years (Twitter account of journalist Hassan Aslih, August 27, 2020).

Public health system activity to cope with Covid-19

• Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the ministry of health in Gaza, said the ministry expects that in the coming days the number of infections will continue to rise because the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely-populated locations on earth. He said the European Gaza Hospital, which had been turned into a hospital for Covid-19 patients, had 400 beds, of which 50 were intensive care beds. He said a procedure had been established for the transfer of Covid-19 patients to the hospital, but that 80% of the cases would not require hospitalization. He added that all other hospitals continued working as usual (al-Aqsa, August 27, 2020).

• On August 27, 2018, Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas administration information bureau, reported that 2,500 Covid-19 tests had been administered within a few hours. He said the most vulnerable groups had been tested, including the aged and people suffering from chronic ailments. He added that random samples had been taken in the hospitals in the Gaza Strip and that comprehensive testing had been done in hospitals after several Covid-19 cases had been detected (Shehab, August 27, 2020).
• Iyad al-Buzum, spokesman for the ministry of the interior in Gaza, said the government had begun preparing schools as quarantine centers. He also said the ministry of the interior was having hundreds of thousands of masks manufactured for distribution to residents (website of the ministry of the interior in Gaza, August 27, 2020).
• Dr. Abd al-Nasser Sabah, W.H.O. director in Gaza, said that detecting Covid-19 patients in the Gaza Strip six months after the outbreak of the disease had allowed the public health system to make the best possible preparations. However, he added, the capabilities of the public health system were limited to treating hundreds of patients, not thousands. Therefore, its ability to cope with Covid-19 depended to a great extent on public awareness and cooperation. He added that the W.H.O. was giving the Palestinian ministry of health technical support in accordance with the demands of the various stages of medical emergency situations. The organization provided appliances and other medical equipment for dealing with the epidemic, including dozens of ventilators and four PCR machines, which make it possible to administer more than 1,500 tests within 24 hours (Dunia al-Watan, August 27, 2020).

Warnings not to believe rumors about the spread of Covid-19

• Hamas is apparently worried by rumors being spread about the proliferation of Covid-19, and seeks to control the information about the virus in the Gaza Strip. The ministry of health announced it would issue updates every evening at 20:00. Salama Maarouf, head of the Hamas administration information bureau, warned Palestinians not to believe, act according to or spread fake news (al-Aqsa, August 29, 2020).
• Gaza Police Chief Mahmoud Salah said the police would not allow anyone to exploit the situation in the Gaza Strip to spread rumors. He said the police were monitoring those trying to exploit the circumstances to break the law, adding that several people who had disobeyed the orders had already been detained (al-Ra’i new agency, August 27, 2020).

Foreign aid for the Gaza Strip

• Ghazi Hamed, deputy minister of welfare in Gaza, said he had asked for help from international institutions, providing them with a detailed list of necessary items. According to a report, the ministry of welfare in Gaza received aid from a number of institutions, among them the Norwegian Refugee Council, which donated $15 million for 2,600 needy families (Dunia al-Watan, August 30, 2020). According to Ghazi Hamed, his ministry has a program for providing aid to 50,000 families in the Gaza Strip, beginning the distribution in the region of al-Maghazi. Aid was also distributed in Khan Yunis, Rafah and the central Gaza Strip. During the next stage aid will be distributed to Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. Ghazi Hamed stressed the cooperation between his ministry and all the international and local institutions in the Gaza Strip that had provided thousands of aid packages (al-Ra’i news agency, August 27, 2020).
• Bassem Ghaban, director of the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, said that beginning on August 27, 2020, dozens of trucks carrying food had entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom and Rafah Crossings to provide necessities for a long lockdown (al-Ra’i news agency, August 28, 2020).

   
Transferring food from Israel to the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing
(al-Ra’i news agency, August 28, 2020).

Judea and Samaria

Covid-19 infection in Judea and Samaria
(since the beginning of August 2020)

Geographical distribution of the Covid-19 epicenters

Overview

• The distribution of active cases in the PA (7,086), by district, is as follows: Hebron, 3,291; Bethlehem, 547; Nablus, 347; Ramallah-al-Bireh, 1,059; the villages around Jerusalem, 755; Tulkarm, 88; Jericho, 437; Qalqilya, 485; Jenin, 32, Salfit, 31; and Tubas, 14. As of August 30, 2020, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the PA since its outbreak stood at 21,947.

Distribution of active COVID-19 cases by district

The Hebron district

The number of active cases in the Hebron district has begun to decline and currently stands at 3,291, down from 3,489 a week ago (as of August 30, 2020). The percentage of active cases in the district is 46% of all cases in Judea and Samaria (down from 49% last week). There is a gradual downward trending of Covid-19 infection in the district because of the number of recoveries.

Number of active cases in the Hebron district

Bethlehem district

The number of active cases in the Bethlehem district has begun to decline, and now stands at 547, down from 576 a week ago.

Nablus district

The number of active cases in the Nablus district now stands at 347, down from 474 a week ago.

Salfit district

The number of active cases in the Salfit district has declined to 31 from 38 a week ago.

Ramallah district

In the Ramallah district there was a decline in the number of cases but the numbers are still high. This past week the number of active cases declined to 1,059 from 1,113 a week ago.

• In view of the rise in the number of active Covid-19 cases, Laila Ghannam, governor of the Ramallah district, issued a number of instructions, among them the following: all residents are required to wear a mask when leaving the house, reception venues remain closed and weddings are banned, as are mourning tents. She called on all store and business owners to strictly follow the public health guidelines (Laila Ghannam’s Facebook page, August 27, 2020).

Jenin district

The number of Covid-19 cases in the Jenin district rose to 32, up from 14 a week ago.

• Akram Rajoub, the governor of the Jenin district, imposed a full three-day lockdown on the village of Burqin (west of Jenin) after 21 new Covid-19 cases were detected. He called on local residents to strictly obey public health guidelines (Ma’an, August 30, 2018).

Tulkarm district

This past week there were 88 active cases in the Jenin district, down from 121 a week ago.

Qalqilya district

In the Qalqilya district there was a rise in the number of active cases, with 485 cases, up from 313 a week ago.

• The rise in infection in the Qalqilya district began when local residents attended weddings and other crowded events. Rafi’ Rawajba, governor of the Qalqilya district, ordered the Palestinian security forces in the district to enforce their supervision more closely and punish the reception venues and crowded events (Rafi’ Rawajba’s Facebook page, August 27, 2020).

The villages around Jerusalem

The number of active cases continues to rise in the villages around Jerusalem. There are currently 755 active cases, up from 698 a week ago.

The East Jerusalem Neighborhoods

According to PA reports, the number of active Covid-19 cases in the east Jerusalem neighborhoods continues to rise. The number currently stands at 2,150, up from 2,007 a week ago (according to reports from the Jerusalem municipality, the number of active cases stands at 1,428).

The number of active Covid-19 cases in the east Jerusalem neighborhoods according to PA data (from the middle of July 2020)

The total number of Covid-19 cases in east Jerusalem neighborhoods according to PA data (since the beginning of July 2020).

The spread of Covid-19 infection in the east Jerusalem neighborhoods, according to information from the Jerusalem municipality
(updated to August 21, 2020).

PA Activities

• Mahmoud Abbas called a meeting of the Covid-19 emergency committee whose members include some of the PA government’s ministers, district governors and heads of the Palestinian security services. Reports were given by PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh and Mai al-Kayla, PA minister of health, about the Covid-19 infection situation. Mahmoud Abbas ordered stricter measures to be taken, and for obedience to the directives of the PA’s institutions and security services. He also ordered a delegation of ministers to be sent to the Gaza Strip to gather firsthand information about the infection and to provide Gaza with all possible aid (Wafa, August 27, 2020).

• In preparation for the beginning of the new elementary school year on September 9, 2020, Mai al-Kayla met with Marwan Awartani, Palestinian minister of education, and with teams of experts. They discussed measures and procedures for beginning the school year to protect the health of the students and educational staff (Facebook page of the ministry of health in Ramallah, August 26, 2020).

[1] The numbers relating to Covid-19 infection issued by the ministry of health in Ramallah include many recoveries but we have no systematic information about them. ↑

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