The crowded Gaza Strip recorded its first death from the coronavirus on Saturday, officials said, amid fears an outbreak could paralyze the territory's already overstretched health care system.
The Palestinian health ministry said the deceased was a 77-year-old woman who had underlying health problems and had been placed at a special field hospital near the Rafah border crossing point upon arriving from Egypt.
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Gaza's authorities, led by the militant group Hamas, reported 35 confirmed new cases this week, bringing the total to 55. All of the infected have been in designated quarantine and isolation facilities hosting returnees from abroad. There were no reports of community transmission of the virus. Gaza's healthcare system is fraying under the weight of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, internal Palestinian division, and repeated wars and skirmishes between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.
Home to 2 million people, the Gaza Strip has only a little over 60 ventilators and a chronic shortage of medication.
Since mid-March, Hamas has enforced mandatory quarantining at hotels, clinics and schools for all residents returning via Israel and Egypt. With the recent spike of cases, Hamas said it's closing Gaza's borders for all arrivals until the end of June.
But on Friday, mosques were reopened for noon prayers across the Gaza Strip, with worshippers bringing their own prayer rugs, wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and receiving hand sanitizer. Authorities say the partial reopening of the mosques after nearly two months of closure came after relative success at keeping the virus at bay and preventing an outbreak.
Schools and wedding halls remained closed in Gaza. Hamas' interior ministry said public and amusement parks are not allowed to open during Eid al-Fitr, a major holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, that starts Sunday.
Worshippers were given hand sanitizer as they entered mosques. They brought their own prayer rugs, wore masks and kept space between themselves. The opening came ahead of Eid al-Fitr, a major holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Authorities in Gaza have reported 35 new cases in recent days, bringing the total number to 55. All the new cases were detected in quarantine facilities. But they have renewed concerns about a wider outbreak that could overwhelm the depleted health care system in the impoverished territory, which is home to 2 million people.
In a separate development, the Palestinian Authority said it was not informed about a shipment of coronavirus aid sent by the United Arab Emirates to Israel earlier this week on the first known direct commercial flight between the two countries.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said Thursday the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was not consulted about the aid shipment, which the UAE had said was bound for the Palestinian territories.
"We read about this in the newspapers," he said. "We were not informed about this and there was no coordination with us on either end, with our ambassador in the Emirates or here."
