The besieged Gaza faces Corona with improvised tools

The discovery of cases of the new Corona virus "Covid-19" in the surrounding areas close to the Gaza Strip, such as the West Bank, Egypt and Israel, raised the residents' concerns that the virus could reach them, especially with the presence of "land crossings" linking them with these areas.

The most feared by the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip is the inability to control the spread of the virus, in the event of infection in the Strip.

These fears stem from the weak potential of the health sector and the overpopulation in Gaza, where the population of the Strip exceeds two million.

The Israeli besieged sector suffers, for the 13th year in a row, from a general weakness in providing health services and a shortage of medicines and medical consumables, at a deficit estimated by the Gaza Ministry of Health, at about 45%.

Residents have begun taking several precautions to prevent corona infection. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has also published steps to prevent infection with the virus, or limit its spread once it reaches the Strip, in addition to taking a number of steps and preventive measures to prevent the virus from entering Gaza.

According to Palestinian health, the Gaza Strip is devoid of corona injuries, while the West Bank, especially the cities of Bethlehem (south) and Tulkarem (north), recorded 26 injuries.

Since Saturday, 7 March, studies in schools, kindergartens and universities in Gaza have been suspended in response to a decision by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Individual safeguards
The Palestinian woman, Reem Salem, 26, who is a mother of two, told Anadolu Agency that she feared the virus could reach the Gaza Strip. She indicated that she had started to take a number of precautions to protect her family from this virus.

Rim greatly reduced the mixing of her children with others and eliminated the idea of ​​participating in enclosed spaces, such as weddings, for example.

She also began sterilizing her home at an interval of time, indicating that, for urgent reasons, she had purchased a quantity of medical masks that her family would be required in the event that the virus reaches the Strip.

The Ministry of Education has demanded that the school leave be extended, for a new period, as a preventive step against corona infection.

In turn, the Palestinian hairdresser Nasser Al-Kidwa followed procedures to prevent the virus. The hairdresser wears medical gloves and masks while styling customers' hair, as part of the precautionary measures from Corona.

Shops
Several shops in Gaza followed procedures to ensure the safety and protection of their customers from infection with the virus. They began cleaning their shelves and doors using medical sterilizers.

At the door of one of the commercial malls in Gaza, a worker stands to sterilize the hands of incoming customers, as well as to sterilize the shopping carts they use.

Ahmed Murtaja, the administrator at the Gaza Mall, told Anadolu: "This initiative comes within the framework of the Corona Prevention Measures."

"This initiative is implemented by the mall management and employees, as shopping carts, plastic baskets and customer hands are sterilized," he added.

The crew also cleans accounting tables every short period of time, using sterile materials. Gloves and medical masks are worn by workers at this mall, as a precaution.

Regarding the customers' demand to buy sterilizers and medical protective supplies such as gags, Murtaja said, "The last four days have witnessed a great demand for these types of goods."

He continued, "The big turnout comes in fear of the spread of Corona, which is a matter of health precautions."

In the same context, many bakeries have taken a number of preventive measures, fearing that Corona will move to the sector. For example, in a bakery, employees wear gloves, masks, and headscarves, and the entire area is sterilized several times a day.

The bakery also established something like a stone room, using reinforced nylon bags, to separate baked products from customers, as a precautionary step to prevent Corona.

Governmental procedures
Governmental educational institutions of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and private ones, have suspended studies in their schools and universities, for various periods.

The Ministry of Education and UNRWA announced the closure of their schools until the end of this week, as a precaution.

While universities suspended their academic time, in compliance with President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to declare a state of emergency in the Palestinian territories for a month, to counter the virus.

In turn, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs announced a package of measures to prevent HIV infection.

And the ministry recommended - in a statement that "Anatolia" received a copy of it - people with "influenza" to perform prayer at home, and not to come to the mosques. The ministry called for non-prolongation of "open prayers and Friday sermons."

She also demanded the cessation of activities of a large number, adding, "Regarding the memorization of the Qur’an in mosques, students are distributed over more than one time during the day, or individual recitation takes place, and their gathering is prohibited on one level."

Ministry of Health
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has taken a number of precautions to prevent Corona's infiltration into Gaza. And the Ministry affirmed - in a statement that a copy of "Anatolia" arrived - that all arrivals to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing (with Egypt) must be adhered to the house quarantine for a period of 14 days, from the date they entered the Strip.

The Ministry stressed that it will impose, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the competent authorities, the compulsory quarantine in the "quarantine" center, on violators.

In turn, Magdi Dheir, Director of Preventive Medicine at the Ministry of Health, said in previous statements to Anatolia, that his ministry "took measures to prevent the arrival of Corona to Gaza, so that those arriving through the crossings from the affected countries are monitored, examined and isolated for 14 days inside a quarantine designated for them at the Rafah crossing." (South)".

And those countries, according to the ministry, are "China, South Korea, Japan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon."

Dheir said that "a field hospital near the Rafah crossing in the south of the Strip is equipped with a capacity of thirty beds as a first stage, and the intensive care department, and trained medical equipment and competencies", in the event of injuries.

He also stated that "a device and the requirements for checking suspicious cases were provided in any case without the need to exit the sector."

The Ministry of Health has published a number of preventive awareness campaigns, and issued circulars to guide citizens on how to protect themselves from Corona.