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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element" dir="ltr"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/first-coronavirus-cases-reported-gaza">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/tamara-nassar/first-coronavirus-cases-reported-gaza</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">First coronavirus cases reported in
Gaza</h1>
<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/tamara-nassar">Tamara
Nassar</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2020-03-22T22:08:16+00:00">22 March 2020</span></span>
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<figure id="file-90386"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><img
src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2020-03/220320_-_gaza-disinfection-coronavirus.jpg?itok=KRkp5hK4×tamp=1584909619"
alt="Three workers in uniform disinfect street"
title=""><figcaption>
<p>Palestinian workers disinfect a street in Gaza
City on 22 March. Two cases of COVID-19 have been
confirmed in the Strip. </p>
<small>
<span>APA images</span></small></figcaption></figure>
<p>The first two cases of <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/covid-19">COVID-19</a>,
the disease caused by the new coronavirus, have been
confirmed in the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely
populated places in the world.</p>
<p>Yousef Abu al-Rish, a health ministry official in
Gaza, <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQdPjPvlUs">announced</a>
that the pair had recently returned from Pakistan and
were already in quarantine when diagnosed.</p>
<p>Both patients were transferred to a field hospital in
Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, where preparations
for potential coronavirus cases have been made. All
those who came into contact with the patients have
been placed in compulsory quarantine.</p>
<p>A third Palestinian, in the occupied West Bank town
of Salfit, who <a
href="https://qudsn.net/post/174144">attended</a>
the same conference in the Pakistani town of Raiwind
near Lahore, also tested positive for the virus.</p>
<p>This brings the number of confirmed cases in the
occupied West Bank to 57, two in the Gaza Strip, and
approximately 1,000 in Israel, where one death has
been reported.</p>
<p>There are currently about 1,200 Palestinians in 18
different quarantine centers in the Gaza Strip.</p>
<h2>West Bank lockdown</h2>
<p>Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammad
Shtayyeh <a
href="http://english.wafa.ps/page.aspx?id=TfJHxma115474287984aTfJHxm">ordered</a>
a two-week lockdown on all Palestinian residents in
the occupied West Bank, barring emergencies, to go
into effect Sunday night.</p>
<p>Those working in pharmacies, grocery stores, bakeries
and healthcare facilities are exempted from the
lockdown.</p>
<p>Shtayyeh’s decision has no bearing on some 800,000
Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in the
occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The
settlers share certain roads, grocery stores and gas
stations with Palestinians.</p>
<p>Unlike Palestinians, settlers are free to move in and
out of Israel as they please, subject only to
restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities.</p>
<p>As part of the PA’s emergency measures, Palestinians
will no longer be allowed to work in Israeli
settlements.</p>
<p>Some Palestinians defied orders to cease work in
settlements last week, <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/palestinians-defy-leaders-coronavirus-crisis-ban-on-work-in-settlements-1.8691735">citing</a>
their need to feed their families.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers
are continuing their work inside Israel without being
able to return to their homes in the occupied West
Bank or Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>Israel automatically renewed permits for Palestinian
laborers working in Israel, but anyone who returns
home will risk losing their permit.</p>
<p>“Defense minister Naftali Bennett decided that only
laborers who agree to stay overnight in Israel for two
months can continue to work at jobs considered
‘essential,’” Israeli daily <em>Haaretz</em> <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-for-palestinian-construction-workers-in-israel-the-coronavirus-is-just-one-more-dan-1.8694613">reported</a>.</p>
<p>For Palestinians, it is a desperate situation. One
worker, identified only as Ibrahim, told the <em>Haaretz</em>
reporter, “I prefer to be home like the Jews and like
you, with a mask. But what will my wife say if we
don’t have money? It’s a choice of no-choice.”</p>
<h2>Medicine stock “chronically low” in Gaza</h2>
<p>Michael Lynk, the UN’s special rapporteur on human
rights in the West Bank and Gaza, is <a
href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25728&LangID=E">urging</a>
Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian
resistance organization Hamas to deploy all health
resources at their disposal to stymie the spread of
the pandemic.</p>
<p>The Palestinian Authority run by Mahmoud Abbas
exercises limited control in the occupied West Bank,
while Hamas runs the interior of the besieged Gaza
Strip.</p>
<p>Lynk affirmed that Israel, as the occupying power, is
obligated under international law to guarantee basic
services and health infrastructure for Palestinians.</p>
<p>Instead, Israel has <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/gazas-sick-pay-price-blockade/17501">diminished</a>
the capacity of Gaza’s health system and <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/dual-use-list">prohibited</a>
vital supplies from entering the territory.</p>
<p>Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza’s two million
population for the past 13 years and controls the
passage of goods in and out of the territory.</p>
<p>Israel bans the import to Gaza of a long <a
href="http://www.cogat.mod.gov.il/en/services/Documents/List%20of%20Dual%20Use%20Items%20Requiring%20a%20Transfer%20License.pdf">list</a>
of so-called “dual-use” items which it claims may have
military purposes.</p>
<p>These include medical supplies like glycerine and
hydrogen peroxide, which is used as a disinfectant.</p>
<p>Israeli rights group Gisha is <a
href="https://gisha.org/press/11019">calling</a> on
Israel to suspend its blockade on Gaza and allow all
necessary items to enter.</p>
<p>Gisha cited “an acute shortage in ventilators, ICU
beds, medicine and protective equipment available in
the Strip in the event of a wider outbreak.”</p>
<p>It added that the Strip is not equipped to handle the
pandemic, as its infrastructure is “inadequate even in
‘normal’ times.”</p>
<p>Gaza’s “healthcare system was collapsing even before
the pandemic,” UN special rapporteur Lynk stated. “Its
stocks of essential drugs are chronically low. Its
natural sources of drinkable water are largely
contaminated.”</p>
<p>He noted that Gaza’s population is already more
vulnerable, “with malnutrition on the rise, poorly
controlled non-communicable diseases, dense living and
housing conditions, an elderly population without
access to proper nursing care and high smoking rates.”</p>
<p>UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians has
also <a
href="https://www.map.org.uk/news/archive/post/1097-map-releases-hygiene-kits-for-palestinians-quarantined-in-gaza-schoolshttps://www.map.org.uk/news/archive/post/1097-map-releases-hygiene-kits-for-palestinians-quarantined-in-gaza-schools">warned</a>
an outbreak in the coastal enclave could be
“catastrophic.”</p>
<p>UN humanitarian coordinator Jamie McGoldrick released
$1 million in emergency funds to prepare the occupied
West Bank and Gaza Strip for an outbreak and appealed
for more funds.</p>
<h2>Prisoners threaten hunger strike</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, Palestinians in Israeli prisons are <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-palestinian-prisoners-in-israeli-jails-threaten-hunger-strike-over-coronavirus-1.8697309">threatening</a>
to go on hunger strike at the beginning of April to
protest measures by the Israel Prison Service that may
expose them to the virus.</p>
<p>Israeli guards reportedly raid prison cells without
face masks and protective gear, subjecting detainees
to health risks in light of the fast-spreading virus.
Prison authorities have also barred visits by family
and lawyers.</p>
<p>Last week, Israeli prison authorities <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/ppsmo/photos/a.648140535250649/2894016947329652/?type=3&theater">withdrew</a>
some 140 items from prison commissaries, including
food and hygiene products.</p>
<p>Four Palestinian detainees in Megiddo prison in
northern Israel were isolated after they came into
contact with an Israeli guard who had the coronavirus.</p>
<p>The detainees have not been tested for the virus,
however. In order to qualify for testing, prisoners
must have come into contact with an infected person
and also show symptoms of COVID-19.</p>
<h2>Jordan under curfew</h2>
<p>Neighboring Jordan meanwhile <a
href="https://petra.gov.jo/Include/InnerPage.jsp?ID=23298&lang=en&name=en_news">imposed</a>
a full, <a
href="https://petra.gov.jo/Include/InnerPage.jsp?ID=23347&lang=en&name=en_news">indefinite</a>
curfew on the kingdom starting Saturday. All citizens
are required to stay in their homes, barring
emergencies, and virtually all businesses are closed.</p>
<p>Jordan’s borders have also been completely closed.</p>
<p>There are 112 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in
Jordan as of Sunday, with no deaths and one recovery.</p>
<p>The World Health Organization has recorded more than
300,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus as of
Sunday, more than 13,000 of them fatal.</p>
<br>
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