UN office for the coordination of Humanitarian Assitance (OCHA)
Highlights
- Over 6,000 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the oPt, but active cases decline significantly; 88 more people die.
- 1,000 more cases of community transmission, and another six fatalities reported in Gaza.
- The general lockdown is extended in both the West Bank and Israel, which also includes annexed East Jerusalem.
- The Inter-Agency Response Plan for the oPt is 47 per cent funded.
Situation Overview
During the reporting period, some 6,350 additional Palestinians in the oPt tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the cumulative number of cases since the start of the crisis to approximately 53,000 (as of 16:00, 5 October). Eighty-eight more people died, bringing to 402 the cumulative number of fatalities due to the virus, 379 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and 23 in the Gaza Strip. Forty-seven patients are in intensive care units (ICU), eleven of whom require mechanical ventilation, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).
More than 11,000 people recovered during this period, and the number of active cases decreased by 40 per cent, from 12,698 to 7,597. However, due to the shortage of testing kits in the West Bank, only Palestinians who are traveling and those exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 can be tested. Others are asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
Some 85 per cent of patients have now recovered from the virus and the case fatality rate remains low at 0.8 per cent. Hebron and East Jerusalem account for over 50 per cent of cumulative cases, although Gaza now has the largest share of active cases (18 per cent). The positivity rate for those tested in the West Bank is around 14 per cent. In Gaza, the number of tests conducted per day is around 2,000, with a positivity rate between three and five per cent. The ability of the Gaza healthcare system to manage the surge in COVID-19 cases continues to be of significant concern.
On 2 October, in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (PA) declared an extension of the state of emergency for 30 days. In Israel, the general lockdown, applicable also to annexed East Jerusalem, which started on 18 September, has been extended to 14 October. In Gaza, lockdown measures imposed since August remain, although the authorities have eased some of the restrictions.
Read the full report:
COVID-19 Emergency Situation Report 19 ( 22 September – 5 October 2020)
