The press report on COVID 19
Ministry of Health – Gaza Strip
The Ministry of Health and the other Palestinian Governmental Institutions continue their successive precautionary measures to tackle the new coronavirus outbreak in Gaza Strip as follows:

1. The medical personnel provide care, to1816 returnees, in 27 different quarantine centers, of whom 1061 are receiving special care in hotels, primary health care centers and specialized hospitals within preventive measures.

2. The Ministry of Health has intensified epidemiological surveillance and laboratory testing of returnees in quarantine centers by conducting 830 investigations of suspected cases during March 2020, most of which were negative.

3. The Ministry of Health indicates that the two cases that were announced on the evening of 31 March 2020 were discovered during the ongoing laboratory examination of the returnees, and no one had contacted them and they had not shown any symptoms. Thus, the total number of cases discovered in the Gaza Strip increased to 12 cases so far.

4. We assure our people in the Gaza Strip that the health status of all cases infected reassuring and stable.

5. All the cases discovered in the Gaza Strip were limited to the quarantine centers, which confirms the safety of the precautionary measures taken, and contributed to the immunization of society.

6. The Ministry of Health works to face the Coronavirus with limited capabilities that decrease day after day reaching 43% of medicines, 25% of medical consumables, 65% of laboratory supplies and blood banks. A huge shortage of sterilizers and personal protective equipment PPE, which urges the local, regional and international bodies of concern to take immediate actions and measures to provide us with the needed supplies .

7. The Ministry of Health urgently needs to be provided by 100 ventilators and 140 beds of ICU to achieve the first response to facing the Coronavirus outbreak, as we have only 63 ventilators and 78 beds of ICU, which hardly meets the daily needs of patients as the occupancy rate reaches 72% in hospitals.

8. We stress on all citizens’ full commitment to preventive measures that may limits their outdoor mobility to extreme necessity, as we call up on the elderly, children, patients with respiratory system diseases and those with chronic immunodeficiency to avoid markets, gatherings and public places.

Palestinian Ministry of Health
April 1, 2020