/ March 26, 2020
More than 3,000 coronavirus test kits and 50,000 surgical masks have been delivered to the Palestinian Authority today by the World Health Organisation (WHO), The Jerusalem Post has reported. The WHO donated the equipment to help in the fight against the virus in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a unit in the Ministry of Defence, arranged the entry of the kits and equipment from Jordan across the King Hussein Bridge, which connects the occupied West Bank with the Hashemite Kingdom.
“Once more COGAT is cooperating closely with the WHO to make assistance possible in the Palestinian Authority’s struggle against the coronavirus outbreak,” said COGAT’s Major General Kamil Abu Rukun. “I commend the teamwork of the international organisations in this important shared endeavour. I wish steady good health to all the residents of the region, and I hope that we will continue to work together in the fight to halt the spread of this dangerous virus.”
The WHO has also assisted the PA’s Ministry of Health in the form of protective clothing for health workers to treat people infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The PA has confirmed 64 cases of infection and experienced its first virus-related death yesterday when a woman in her 60s from the village of Biddo in the occupied West Bank died. “The woman had experienced symptoms and was later hospitalised,” explained PA Spokesman Ibrahim Melhem.
Following this news, the Israeli occupation forces are preparing to close their checkpoints, a move that will effectively lock down many Palestinian towns and cities in the West Bank.
