Governmental Information Center
Ministry of Health – Gaza Strip
1. The Ministry of Health has expanded the laboratory monitoring process to include 50 recent samples for quarantine inmates and contacts of patients in quarantine centers, no new cases of Coronavirus have been recorded in the Gaza Strip so far.
2. We assure our people in the Gaza Strip that the health status of the nine cases that were announced last week are stable until the moment.
3. We follow the health status of 1769 of the returnees inside quarantine centers in the governorates of the Gaza Strip, including 1006 patients who require direct health care in hotels, health centers, and specialized hospitals.
4. The Ministry of Health looks with great concern to all international reports confirming the catastrophic levels of the health and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continued Israeli blockade, the latest of which was the warnings issued by the Director of Relief Agency, Mr. Matthias Shamali, about the seriousness of the frightening health reality and the difficulty of managing the crisis in the face of the Corona epidemic outbreak.
5. We urge our citizens to comply with the procedures and instructions for prevention and safety to protect the society from the emerging Coronavirus, including those of staying for longer periods of time in homes, and not to move except for extreme necessity.
6. The Ministry of Health faces critical levels of drug and medical consumables shortages, laboratory supplies, blood bank supplies, and coronavirus screening materials, which puts us in challenges whose consequences are difficult to predict.
7. The Ministry of Health calls upon the international and relief institutions to take immediate measures to allocate $ 23 million to provide respirators, intensive care supplies, medications, medical consumables, laboratory supplies, and laboratory testing materials as a first response to counter the outbreak of the virus in Gaza Strip.
8. We invite citizens and bank departments and employees to follow all safety and security procedures during receiving salaries, including post offices and ATMs.
9. We require citizens to fully comply with the instructions of prevention and safety and to follow the procedures issued by the Ministry of Health and government agencies to enhance the community’s ability to face the new Coronavirus, including staying in homes for longer periods and not to move except for extreme necessity only. Commitment to the home isolation for their safety and the safety of their community.
10. We invite the elderly, children, patients with pulmonary diseases, immune-compromised patients and chronically ill patients to avoid markets, gatherings, and public places.
11. We emphasize the tightening of safety and prevention measures at commercial markets to ensure that no spread of infection within the Gaza Strip.
12. We invite our generous audience to communicate with the free hotline number 103 of the Ministry of Health or via WhatsApp at No. 0599503103 for health inquiries or to report any violations from pharmaceutical or medical institutions, with our best wishes for you on health and wellness.
Palestinian Ministry of Health
March 30, 2020