Palestinians wait for travel permits to enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, which was reopened partially amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in Rafah in southern Gaza on November 2, 2020. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
The latest:
- 69,181 Palestinians tested positive for COVID-19; 61,033 recoveries; 583 deaths
- Of those who tested positive, 49,207 are in the West Bank, 11,955 in East Jerusalem, and 8,019 in Gaza
- 318,402 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19, 306,890 recoveries, 2,644 deaths
Number of active cases creeps upward
After seven weeks of declining COVID-19 infections across the occupied Palestinian territory, this week marked an increase in active cases for the first time since mid-September, and comes just weeks after students returned to in-person instruction. There are around 750 more active cases today spread across the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem than there were two weeks ago.
The sea change definitively came on Sunday, November 2 when 715 Palestinians tested positive. This was the first time numbers of new cases were that high since September 17. It’s a little early to determine if the trend will continue, but anecdotally we can see Gaza is creeping towards capacity at hospitals.
Head of the European Hospital in Gaza Yousef al-Aqqad said his facility had to transfer asymptotic patients to quarantine centers in order to clear space for incoming patients.
“The hospital’s maximum capacity is to treat 500 patients, and we have only 100 beds designated for critical cases,” al-Aqqad said this week, reported the Chinese wire agency Xinhua.
The United Nations calculated that from October 20 to November 2, there are 2,400 additional cases of community transmission in Gaza and nine deaths. As we’ve seen in the past, the UN warned these figures probably reflect an under count because of limited testing, particularly in Gaza.
“These figures are believed to significantly underestimate the actual number of people who contracted the virus, due to the policy implemented in West Bank by the MoH [ministry of health], whereby only those showing possible symptoms, as well as travellers, are being tested,” said the latest situation report from UN OCHA.
At least 500,000 COVID-19 laboratory tests have been run from samples collected from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. These tests yielded an overall 11.1% positivity rate and includes every test processed from March to today.
The big picture: To give a little context the U.S. has an 7.1% positivity rate, according to the CDC. This is in line with benchmark set by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, which sought to bring cases below 10%. Back in the spring the WHO recommended states continue to lock down until positivity rates fell below 5%.
The hard numbers: If we jump back to Palestinian COVID-19 positivity rates and zone in on an isolated date this week, on November 3, for example, the Palestinian ministry of health announced test results for 4,230 Palestinians, of whom 633 tested positive, which means the positivity rate for November 3 was around 15%.
Most of the new cases are in Gaza, where 36% of all active cases are located. In the last few weeks high school students returned to in-person instruction and Gaza began scaling back a nearly two month lockdown. The new increase in cases is apparent uptick following Gaza’s relative reopening.
Border with Egypt opens for four days
The Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt opened for four days in both directions, from November 2 to 5, marking the first time since September the crossing opened and the third time since the pandemic began where Palestinians could exit to Egypt.
The WHO found “As of 4 November, 758 Palestinians crossed into Gaza, and 2,270 people exited to Egypt.” Marking a change in procedure, Palestinians entering Gaza were required to present a negative COVID-19 test that was completed 48 hours before entry.
Disputes over extent of prison outbreak
Palestinian student walks past a mural depicting the coronavirus in prison in Gaza City on November 4, 2020. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour/APA Images)
This week coronavirus cases were confirmed at a prison in northern Israel, although Palestinian and Israeli sources presented different data on the extent of the outbreak. Palestinian sources said at least 80 tested positive at the Gilboa prison, while Israeli officials said 56 tested positive and another five had “borderline” results, reported Haaretz.
