The World Health Organization (WHO) said today that there are zero cases of COVID-19, the official name of coronavirus in the occupied Palestinian territories; the risk, nevertheless, remains high.
In an update on the disease in the region, WHO said that 87 cases of coronavirus were reported in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: 61 cases in Iran (including 12 deaths), 13 cases in UAE, 5 in Kuwait, 2 in Bahrain, 2 in Oman, 1 in Afghanistan, 1 in Lebanon, 1 in Iraq, 1 in Egypt, and 2 in Israel.
Alarm in Holy Land after visit by pilgrims with #coronavirus
The 9 tourists, who tested positive for coronavirus after returning to South Korea, earlier in February visited holy sites including Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
https://t.co/K3ztfaXsHQ pic.twitter.com/5yCNsL0nKo— Lahib Bani-Sakhar لهيب بني صخر (@LahibBaniSakhar) February 22, 2020
So far, no confirmed cases of COVID-19 were registered in the occupied Palestinian territory, as reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH).
A coordination meeting between the MoH, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Palestine Red Crescent Society facilitated by WHO was held yesterday in Ramallah.
The parties agreed on strengthening coordination efforts in management and transportation of potential cases and of those who are placed in quarantine; they also agreed on working jointly to improve public awareness on COVID-19.
Children of #Gaza participated in a vigil in solidarity with the children of #China, who suffer from #Coronavirus. #Palestine / Quds News Network pic.twitter.com/ctsC10S1Bq
— Vision Plus (@vplusen) February 17, 2020
WHO Head of the office, Gerald Rockenschaub, also co-chaired an inter-agency Covid-19 preparedness meeting with the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Health Mai Al-Kaila in Ramallah on Sunday to discuss the level of preparedness measures, and agreed on a set of additional priority preparedness actions for the West Bank and Gaza, said the report.
Regarding Gaza, WHO declared that it is coordinating with local authorities in order to review preparedness measures.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
