Abdel Raouf Zaqout - Gaza

Delivering the day and night, they work as a tireless and tired beehive in a huge area of ​​27 dunums to build a quarantine headquarters of one thousand rooms, within the sector's measures to prevent the emerging corona virus (Covid-19) in anticipation of any emergency.

The workers and engineers were distributed in two locations, north and south of the Gaza Strip. In light of the limited capabilities, the staff were able, within two weeks, to build quarantine units fully equipped to receive cases, in a record time achieved by the besieged sector for 14 years.

The quarantine rooms are distributed by five hundred rooms on an area of ​​14 acres in the area near the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, and another five hundred rooms on an area of ​​13 acres in the northern Gaza Strip near the Beit Hanoun / Erez crossing.

It is worth noting that the construction of the two complexes witnessed a great solidarity and joint work between government agencies in the Gaza Strip and local labor institutions.

The constructive groom
Muhammad Bulbul (30 years), one of the young men working in the project, stressed that since the beginning of work he only returned to his home for a few hours, as he decided to stay in the construction and equipment site in the south of the sector until the end of work and hand over the project to the competent authorities.

The stone was built on a large area that includes rooms and a separate park (Al Jazeera).

Bulbul, who got married only three days ago, presented work and called for duty on his personal life, and took the iron rooms of the "Container" workers as a place to sleep, so that he would be prepared every morning for a new hard day, as are many of the workers in the project.

The groom told Al-Jazeera Net, "Since the beginning of our work in the place, we did not think about the financial return despite the difficult situation. What preoccupied our thinking was that we are part of those who work to prevent corona and protect our people in the Gaza Strip, so we endured long hours of work because we know very well Gaza is racing against time. "

Despite the tedious work in the project, it was also an opportunity for unemployed youth to find a livelihood, albeit temporarily, in light of the difficult economic conditions, and the high and increasing unemployment and poverty rates in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Ministry of Social Development in the sector, the rate of poverty and unemployment in 2019 reached 75%, with the intensification of the Israeli blockade that has continued since 2007, which was marred by three wars in 2008, 2012 and 2014.

Integrated plan
Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad Al-Bazm confirmed that the decision to build the quarantine came as part of an integrated plan developed by government agencies to deal with all scenarios expected to confront Corona.

During the finalization of quarantine facilities in the southern Gaza Strip (Al-Jazira)

The quarantine is to be devoted to isolating cases and injuries if they arise, and to accommodate all numbers of citizens returning to the Gaza Strip from the Rafah crossing and the Beit Hanoun checkpoint.

Al-Bazm told Al-Jazeera Net that, despite the limited capabilities in the Gaza Strip due to the 14-year-old Israeli blockade, quarantine rooms were built in record time with concerted efforts, to deal with any developments that might occur in the face of the global epidemic.

It is noteworthy that the quarantine is completely and partially isolated from the external environment, in addition to isolating each unit (approximately thirty rooms) independently, and there is a security supervisor in each unit.

The competent authorities have prepared quarantine rooms with all the requirements that ensure that the hosts do not contact them and transmit infection between them, and provide them with electricity, water and the Internet around the clock, in addition to allocating a large area as a separate garden.

And about the use of schools and hotels initially, Al-Bazm said that the schools were for urgent and urgent dealing, and the nature of their construction is not prepared to implement the process of complete quarantine, "but we were forced to do so and provided them with the capabilities necessary to overcome the new reality, and then we used the hotels to improve procedures and conditions of quarantine."

On the number of rooms in the Great Stone, Al-Bazm indicated that the Ministry of Interior does not see that a thousand rooms are a large number in its estimation, because the epidemic may be prolonged, indicating that "the Ministry of Interior with the competent ministries sets a plan as well to find other alternatives in the event that things develop."

Preventative measurements
A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in Gaza stressed that the advanced procedure that was taken to place the returnees to the Strip in a compulsory, not a domestic, stone was critical to the non-proliferation of the virus in society, especially since the cases that were discovered were among the interdicted.

An external scene of the quarantine built in record time (Al Jazeera)

Al-Bazm indicated that the Ministry of Interior, along with the relevant ministries, took many preventive decisions and measures, including "closing mosques, stopping Friday prayers, closing weekly popular markets, completely shutting down beach breaks, preventing gatherings, closing restaurants, cafes and wedding halls, not holding public parties, and not establishing Funeral homes. "

On the level of decisions related to the Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior released a number of prisoners who spent two-thirds of the period in accordance with the law, in addition to giving 50% of prisoners classified without serious cases an open leave until further notice, within the framework of protection and prevention, while those remaining inside prisons are subject to strict preventive measures .

Great drain
And about working under the siege, Al-Bazem affirmed that there is a great weakness in the capabilities due to the Israeli siege, pointing out that the continuation of the siege in light of the spread of the epidemic will drain all the current capabilities, which endangers the lives of citizens.

The Interior Ministry spokesperson appealed to the international community and all parties to press the occupation to lift the siege urgently to save the lives of two million threatened people in light of the spread of the epidemic in the world that did not stand up to major countries.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced the end of the quarantine of 1018 hosts in the quarantine centers, including 233 medical teams, security men, support services and hygiene, after completing all checks to check on their safety.

According to the ministry's data, the total number of people recovering from the Corona virus reached eight cases, and five cases are still under health follow-up, while no new cases have been registered yet.