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Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories

Palestinians are facing the epidemic while they are the only occupied country globally, with around 2 million inhabitants under siege in the Gaza Strip (GS) for the last 14 years and have no control over the health of the Palestinians in East-Jerusalem (EJ). Such catastrophic situations created a va...

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Autores principales: Abed, Yehia, Shaheen, Amira, Abedrabbo, Ali
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8424071/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34513794
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.736005
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author Abed, Yehia
Shaheen, Amira
Abedrabbo, Ali
author_facet Abed, Yehia
Shaheen, Amira
Abedrabbo, Ali
author_sort Abed, Yehia
collection PubMed
description Palestinians are facing the epidemic while they are the only occupied country globally, with around 2 million inhabitants under siege in the Gaza Strip (GS) for the last 14 years and have no control over the health of the Palestinians in East-Jerusalem (EJ). Such catastrophic situations created a variety in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in different territories. This study aimed to explore variation in COVID-19 spread, risk factors, and intervention activities in the three Palestinian territories: West Bank (WB), EJ, and GS to learn from the current gaps to overcome this pandemic and be prepared for future emergencies. Epidemiological data regarding COVID-19 were obtained from online websites, Palestinian national reports, WHO reports, and scientific publications. Morbidity and mortality indicators in Palestine are higher than the global level with rate variation in the three territories. COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates are higher in EJ and lowest in GS, while case fatalities are around 1% all over the country. Social gathering and lack of readiness of the fragmented health systems (there are two systems; Palestinian serves the WB and GS and Israeli serves the EJ) are risk factors in the three Palestinian territories. The most prominent risk in GS is overcrowding, while the movement of the workers inside Israel and travel are more prevalent in the WB and EJ. The WHO and international organizations play an active role in responding to a community spread, mainly national coordination, risk communication and community engagement, laboratory support, surveillance and procurement, and supply management. Recommendations include restructuring the national committees, reviewing and standardization of the national protocols, expanding infections prevention training, supporting and developing the capacity of laboratories, and setting the role of NGOs besides community engagement and participation.
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spelling pubmed-84240712021-09-09 Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories Abed, Yehia Shaheen, Amira Abedrabbo, Ali Front Public Health Public Health Palestinians are facing the epidemic while they are the only occupied country globally, with around 2 million inhabitants under siege in the Gaza Strip (GS) for the last 14 years and have no control over the health of the Palestinians in East-Jerusalem (EJ). Such catastrophic situations created a variety in the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in different territories. This study aimed to explore variation in COVID-19 spread, risk factors, and intervention activities in the three Palestinian territories: West Bank (WB), EJ, and GS to learn from the current gaps to overcome this pandemic and be prepared for future emergencies. Epidemiological data regarding COVID-19 were obtained from online websites, Palestinian national reports, WHO reports, and scientific publications. Morbidity and mortality indicators in Palestine are higher than the global level with rate variation in the three territories. COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates are higher in EJ and lowest in GS, while case fatalities are around 1% all over the country. Social gathering and lack of readiness of the fragmented health systems (there are two systems; Palestinian serves the WB and GS and Israeli serves the EJ) are risk factors in the three Palestinian territories. The most prominent risk in GS is overcrowding, while the movement of the workers inside Israel and travel are more prevalent in the WB and EJ. The WHO and international organizations play an active role in responding to a community spread, mainly national coordination, risk communication and community engagement, laboratory support, surveillance and procurement, and supply management. Recommendations include restructuring the national committees, reviewing and standardization of the national protocols, expanding infections prevention training, supporting and developing the capacity of laboratories, and setting the role of NGOs besides community engagement and participation. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8424071/ /pubmed/34513794 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.736005 Text en Copyright © 2021 Abed, Shaheen and Abedrabbo. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Abed, Yehia
Shaheen, Amira
Abedrabbo, Ali
Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories
title Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories
title_full Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories
title_fullStr Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories
title_full_unstemmed Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories
title_short Variations in COVID-19 Spread and Control Measures in the Palestinian Territories
title_sort variations in covid-19 spread and control measures in the palestinian territories
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8424071/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34513794
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.736005
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