Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report 82
New COVID-19 infections appear to be slowing down across the oPt, although numbers are still rising in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with over three quarters of cases remaining in Gaza. Positivity in the oPt is still high at 17.63%, due to the high positivity rate in Gaza despite the significant decrease in the West Bank. A true analysis of case numbers in Gaza remains difficult – testing needs to be substantially increased
overall.
Palestinian National Institute for Public Health (PNIPH)
Palestinian National Institute for Public Health (PNIPH) Workshops: during the months of September and October the Palestinian National Institute for Public Health, an on-going WHO project, conducted three educational workshops in Gaza on Robson Ten Group of classification System (TGCS). The workshops aimed at improving the quality of maternal health services during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic through providing orientation and Training of Trainers (TOT) to maternal health providers
on the adoption of TGCS for appropriate use of caesarean section. The activities targeted thirty maternity senior experts and Hospital Managers along with fifty-five obstetricians, midwives and maternity supervisors at the Ministry of Health (MoH) resulting in an agreement to mainstream TGCS in all maternity services
WHO preparedness, readiness and response
WHO continues to work closely with partners to support Ministry of Health’s (MoH) efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Coordination, planning and monitoring
- The state of emergency over COVID-19 decreed by President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank continues in place.
Medical staff and priority groups such as elderly and sick are to receive the third ‘booster’ dose, while universities must vaccinate up to 70% of administrative and academic staff for the school year to continue The Health Cluster conducted two workshops, in Gaza and West Bank, to support partners in writing their health project
proposals for the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). The workshops also focused on mainstreaming cross-cutting issues such as gender, protection against sexual exploitation and abuse, accountability to affected populations, and disability. A total of 72 persons have participated in the workshops, representing 47 UN, International and National organizations.
- The WHO risk assessment remains high, with 23,318 active COVID-19 cases across the oPt. Infections in the Gaza Strip still account for the majority of all cases, at 75.2%.
In the West Bank, numbers of cases are slowing down, and are now at 5,766. Positivity dropped to 7.31% from 12.7% a fortnight ago. The overall Case Fatality Rate (CFR) across oPt remains at 1%. The CFR is the proportion of deaths among identified confirmed cases.
Laboratory testing and diagnostics
- The number of tests conducted in the oPt is largely unchanged during the first week of October, with 43,664 tests conducted, and an overall positivity of 18%.
In the Gaza Strip, testing has decreased, with an average of 3,380 tests per day over the past two weeks, while positivity remains rather high at an average of 31%. As part of its ongoing efforts in maintaining access to essential COVID-19 testing in the Gaza Strip, WHO procured and delivered 60,000 viral
collection swabs and 47,500 antigen rapid detection tests (Ag-RDTs), which allow rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 in suspected cases presenting with symptoms. This activity was made possible with support from the Humanitarian Pooled Fund.
Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Case Management, Operations Support and Logistics
In the Gaza Strip, the number of patients requiring hospitalization is slowly decreasing, but overall bed occupancy is still quite high at 55%, with 306 beds out of a total of 555 currently occupied. Bed occupancy at intensive care units (ICU) is also showing a slight improvement, with 45 patients (50%) occupying a total capacity of 90 beds, including 10 on mechanical ventilators. In the West Bank,
hospitals continue to respond to COVID-19 situation accordingly: ICU bed occupancy is 79% (compared to 72% I the previous report) with 80 ICU beds occupied out of 101, and 19 patients on ventilators (up from 15 two weeks ago).
Breastfeeding during COVID-19
Breastfeeding during COVID-19 - Japanese fund The Palestinian MoH and WHO launched a campaign to raise awareness on breastfeeding and COVID-19 to respond to spreading concern by lactating mothers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection, and their need for guidance on the continuation of breastfeeding. Coinciding with the third wave of COVID-19 outbreak in the Gaza Strip, awareness sessions were held in the maternity department at Al-Shifa Hospital to encourage mothers to early initiate and continue exclusive breastfeeding up to six months of life and debunk misinformation about COVID-19 transmission to infants through breastfeeding. Sixty-thousand flyers
and two-thousand embroidered masks were distributed through the campaign.
|
COVID-19 Vaccination Update
Vaccination Numbers / News (as of 06 October)
1,439,049 people have been vaccinated in total across the oPt: 1,007,835 in the West Bank, and 431,214 in Gaza. These figures represent around 47.76% of the target Palestinian population (16 years and above). Of these numbers, a total of 1,156,653 are fully vaccinated: 863,669 in West Bank, and 292,984 in Gaza. Health
authorities in the Gaza Strip announced the plan to start administering a “booster dose” of the vaccine for those who have completed their vaccines at least six months ago, prioritizing the elderly.
Situation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and Globally
Latest WHO advice and health information:
For updated WHO Publications and Technical Guidance on COVID-19, click here
Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO oPt Head of Office, peeperkornr@who.int
Dr. David Lai, WHO oPt Emergencies Team Lead, laidavid@who.int
Ms. Raghda AbuShahla, WHO oPt Communications Officer, abushahlar@who.int
|