Pandemic Stirs Fears in Gaza as Facilities Running Out of Medical Supplies

Date: 08 December 2020 - 21:15

News ID: ۸۵۲۳۳

GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – Health officials say that they could no longer carry out coronavirus tests in the Gaza Strip because of a lack of kits amid a spike in cases in the besieged Palestinian territory.
The health ministry called for urgent action "to provide the necessary equipment” to screen the population for the virus.
The only laboratory in the territory able to analyze COVID-19 test samples had ceased its work "due to a lack of equipment”, the ministry said in a statement.
"We haven’t received any of the testing materials for the last four days,” said Ameed Mushtaha, director of the lab.
He said the health ministry asked the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to immediately send medical supplies to Gaza.
But the Palestinian Authority, which rules the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, is suffering its own shortage of tests and has also turned to the WHO for more.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has warned that the Gaza Strip’s health system could collapse if the number of cases continues to rise.
An EU delegation arrived in the besieged Gaza Strip to assess the health situation amid the outbreak.
The delegation visited the European Hospital in Gaza for treatment of COVID-19 patients. It will also visit EU-funded projects in Gaza and meet representatives of the territory’s civil society.
Gaza has been struggling to curb the coronavirus outbreak amid a shortage of medicines and medical supplies due to the 13-year blockade by the Zionist regime.
Health authorities in Gaza have reported around 25,500 virus infections, including 149 deaths, since March.