In Gaza, coronavirus begins to spread and causes concern

A Palestinian policeman at work after confinement decreed in Gaza on August 25, 2020. Mohammed Salem / Reuters

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2 min

Until now, the coronavirus pandemic had relatively spared the Gaza Strip. The only cases detected were people arriving from outside this blockaded territory and who were in quarantine centers set up by the authorities. But Monday, August 24, the authorities identified the first four cases among the population. And since then, in a densely populated territory with a fragile health system, the numbers have increased. One person has succumbed to Covid-19.

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With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Guilhem Delteil

The first cases detected among the population, Monday, August 24, were four people from the same family in the Al Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip . As soon as these cases were identified, the local authorities ordered a first general containment throughout this Palestinian territory. The number of tests performed has also increased. And Wednesday, August 26, at midday, ten new cases had been identified.

►Also read : In Gaza, the prospect of the spread of the coronavirus worries

The authorities are very worried

In an area as densely populated as the Gaza Strip, the spread can go quickly. Since the start of the pandemic, the authorities have imperatively sought to avoid it by taking strict measures. Anyone entering the enclave was subject to a mandatory three-week quarantine, in centers monitored by the police.

Now, the virus is present among the population and in several places of the territory. There is not just one home. For the authorities, this is the most complicated scenario to manage. The first general confinement of 48 hours was relatively respected by the population. But, in a territory where more than half of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, many Gazans have to work every day to have enough to eat.

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  • Gaza
  • Palestinian territories
  • Health and medicine
  • Coronavirus

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