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The donated medical aid includes the much-needed COVID-19 nucleic acid testing kits as well as disposable medical protective gear, protective goggles, ventilators, and N95 face masks.
Palestine received Monday from China a batch of emergency medical supplies including medicines, quick medical tests, and ventilators to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Chinese Ambassador to Palestine Guo Wei personally delivered the aid at the health ministry's storage warehouses in the West Bank city of Ramallah to the Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila, who thanked the Asian nation for the help.
While Wei reaffirmed Beijing would continue to support the Palestinians in their fight against the novel coronavirus and provide them with all necessary medical equipment and devices to strengthen their resilience.
The donated medical aid includes the much-needed COVID-19 nucleic acid testing kits as well as disposable medical protective gear, protective goggles, ventilators, and N95 face masks. Last week, Palestine also received a shipment of medical aid from China's Alibaba company.
#Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye lauded #China for providing emergency medical aid that helps enhance #Palestine's efficiency in fighting #COVID19.“Palestine can be more efficient in testing for the virus as a result of the Chinese aid”, Ishtaye wrote on his Facebook pic.twitter.com/2BQ3l0v5pi
— Economic Daily, China (@EDNewsChina) April 15, 2020
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Palestinian territories had been in an emergency situation since the first case of COVID-19 was reported on March 5.
The emergency is due to the weak local health sector and the lack of medical equipment to deal with the pandemic, mainly caused by the illegal Israeli occupation.
Besides a critical shortage in medicine and protective equipment, Gaza has only 56 ventilators and 40 intensive care beds due to the blockade it endures. To put it in perspective, this represents two ICU beds per 100,000.
With only 120 ventilators available in hospitals and medical centers in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza strip to serve more than five million residents, health officials worry in the vent of a large scale infection scenario.
As of Tuesday, there are 466 reported cases, four deaths but no new coronavirus cases in the West Bank and Gaza in the last 24 hours although more than 11,500 Palestinians remain until now in quarantine, al-Kaila informed.
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