Occupied Palestine (QNN)- The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that 108 Covid-19 cases were registered in one day, rising the total infections to 979 and sounding alarm bells in the occupied country.
The government rushed to close the cities of Hebron and Nablus among other restrictions that have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to the West Bank on 5 March 2020, beginning the COVID-19 pandemic in Palestine. Additionally, the first two cases in the Gaza strip were diagnosed on 21 March. 15 active cases and one death have been registered since 20 June, 2020.
COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly in the occupied Palestinian territories, exposing inequalities and discriminatory measures by the occupation state. As 150,000 West Bank residents ordinarily work in “Israel” or illegal Israeli settlements, dozens of Palestinian workers brought the virus back to their hometowns. Moreover, the health system in the West Bank and Gaza is overstretched and suffering from shortages in medical staff, medications, medical equipment, testing kits and disinfectants. Such shortages would weaken any health system’s ability to effectively combat coronavirus. Israel’s occupation has damaged the Palestinian health system, which may not be able to cope with the spread of COVID-19.
In Gaza, it will be difficult to replenish the health needs due to Israeli measures, arbitrary border closures, and continuous attacks on the Gaza Strip which have resulted in the destruction of medical facilities and hospitals, in addition to murdering and injuring civilians.