Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Situation Report 66

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report 66

Issued 4 March 2021

Highlights

• The COVID-19 situation in oPt is again being driven by the West Bank, where a significant surge has been reported in the recent weeks. Following the decrease in the daily number of newly confirmed cases in the past two weeks, Gaza is now seeing a slight increase
• The PA Ministry of Health has stated it has vaccinated more than 6,100 people in the oPt, the bulk going to health workers in critical care or COVID-19 treatment centers.

WHO preparedness, readiness and response

WHO continues to work closely with partners to support Ministry of Health’s (MoH) efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Coordination, planning and monitoring​

• The Palestinian Authority announced on 27 February new measures to cope with the recent upsurge in coronavirus infection numbers: two weeks’ lockdown in West Bank starting from Sunday 28 February extended in all governorates until March 14:
• No movement between governorates including the city of Jerusalem, except for medical personnel, essential goods and food
• Total overnight lockdown continues from 1900 to 0600 nightly (except for pharmacies and bakeries)
• All public and private schools closed, except for high schools; universities and educational institutes to return to remote learning
• In Gaza, since 18 February, local authorities have lifted the imposed restrictions, permitting opening of gyms, sports clubs and wedding halls. The health authorities are monitoring the situation very closely.

Surveillance

• The WHO risk assessment remains very high
• This week, the number of new COVID-19 cases has significantly increased due to a surge in the West Bank, with a 38% rise in newly recorded cases, and a 61% increase in deaths. New strains are thought to be the driving force behind this surge
• The overall Case Fatality Rate (CFR) remains at 1.1 %. The CFR is the proportion of deaths among identified confirmed cases
• As of 3 March, the West Bank governorate of Ramallah accounts for the highest of all active cases in oPt (17%), followed by Hebron (14%), East Jerusalem (12.3%), Gaza (9.2%), Nablus (11.7%), Bethlehem (10.1%), Tulkarm (5.3%) and Salfit (4.3%).

Laboratory testing and diagnostics  ​

• The number of tests conducted in the oPt has increased by 33% during the reporting period (26 February – 4 March), with 51,319 tests conducted
• In the Gaza Strip, an average of 1,761 tests per day have been conducted over the past week (26 February – 4 March) with a positivity rate of 8%.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Isolation and Case Management, Operations Support and Logistics 

• As of 4 March, the overall occupancy rate of COVID-19 dedicated hospital beds in the Gaza Strip is 10%, with 56 of 540 beds occupied. Currently, 11 of the 90 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds (12%) are occupied, with two requiring invasive mechanical ventilation
• The COVID-19 designated hospitals in the West Bank near their full capacity. 90.5% of all COVID-19 designated beds and 93% of ICU beds are now occupied.

COVID-19 Vaccine  

• Since the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the oPt, 6,174 people have received their first doses in the West Bank and Gaza, with health workers in intensive care units and COVID-19 designated facilities being initially targeted as priority groups
• In Gaza, a total of 1,847 frontline healthcare workers, including UNRWA health staff, have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, in one of six assigned vaccination centres across the Gaza Strip
• The two first vaccine deliveries from the global COVAX AMC Facility, working in partnership with WHO and UNICEF, are now expected to arrive in March including:
• 37,440 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines for prioritizing frontline health workers, subject to approvals of supply agreements with the manufacturer
• A further allocation of 168,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines is expected to be received in several shipments by the end of May 2021, with first shipment of 24,000 doses expected to arrive in March. Additional doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to arrive later in 2021.

Maintaining essential health services 

• WHO supported coaching of 12 maternity staff and pediatricians from “Al-Sahaba” NGO hospital on quality services around time of birth and early essential newborn care (EENC)
• As part of a periodic monitoring process, WHO and Patient Friends Benevolent Society hospital discussed the latest WHO assessment results on mother and newborn health services and agreed on the hospital’s action plan for the next three months.

More local information