Gaza declares lockdown amid new wave of pandemic
Ashraf Shannon
Press TV, Gaza
A full lockdown for 48 hours was declared in the Gaza Strip after four cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in a refugee camp, the first in Gaza that did not involve people quarantined in border facilities after crossing into the coastal enclave from Egypt and Israel.
The announcement was made Monday night during a press conference by the government press office in the blockaded enclave. The discovery of the first cases though the community in the impoverished enclaves comes amid acute shortage in hospital supplies and medicines as well as long hours of power outage.
Three Israeli wars and a punishing blockade since 2007 have taken their toll on Gaza’s health sector. The health system is extremely fragile and inadequate to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Hundreds of medical devices including ventilators are currently out of order due to lack of spare parts.
With a population of nearly two million, hospitals in the enclave have less than one hundred ventilators. Since March, local authorities have detected 109 COVID-19 cases. 72 of them have already recovered.
The Gaza Strip has the lowest number of infections in Palestine due to strict measures by the authorities in the tiny enclave. Hundreds of Gazan patients have already lost their lives in recent years due to the Israeli regime’s inhumane practices.
The Israeli blockade has had a devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of residents in Gaza since 2007. Experts say the local spread of coronavirus will be a nightmare and a major catastrophe.
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