Conflict in the Gaza Strip Could Lead to a New COVID-19 Surge

As conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas continues to claim lives in the Gaza Strip, health experts are calling attention to another potential crisis: a worsening COVID-19 outbreak in the area. The number of COVID-19 infections in Gaza was “just leveling off, and then this hit,” a United Nations official told the New York Times on May 16. “It is a grim situation.” On May 3, before the conflict began, Doctors Without Borders warned of an “extraordinary” rise in COVID-19 cases in Gaza, the strip of land between Israel and Egypt that is governed by the militant group Hamas and is home to about 2 million Palestinians. Mostly spared in the early months of the pandemic, the COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza worsened considerably in April, driven by spread of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant. Between March and April, new COVID-19 diagnoses in Gaza rose from less than 1,000 each week to more than 1,000 each day, according to Doctors Without Borders. It’s not clear how many people are being infected each day now. Violence between Israel and Hamas—which has so far killed more than 200 Palestinians and 12 Israelis, according to CBS News—has also all but shut down COVID-19 testing and care in Gaza, making it near-impossible to get an accurate picture of the outbreak.. “The number of positive cases is really underestimated. It doesn’t reflect the reality,” says Ely Sok, who leads Doctors With...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news