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May 1st, 2021 
Awake Goy 
The Latest:
- 324,442 Palestinians tested positive for COVID-19; 299,642 recoveries; 3,499 deaths
- Of those who tested positive, 195,196 live in the West Bank, 100,405 live in Gaza, and 28,841 live in East Jerusalem
- 838,481 Israelis tested positive for COVID-19; 830,625 recoveries; 6,363 deaths
As the latest surge in COVID-19 cases continues to strain Palestinian hospitals, in Gaza health officials have reimposed a widespread mandatory quarantine at government-designated centers for returning travelers. The strict 21-day isolation in hotels and schools was abandoned last winter when restrictions relaxed after a decrease in spread. However, new cases spurred health officials to mandate the policy for all travelers returning from countries with high rates of infection, specifying India and Bangladesh.
The big picture: Coronavirus infections in Gaza now account for almost 65% of all of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the occupied Palestinian territory for the first time. The positivity rate is still hovering at 30% this week, and that is with a 20% drop in laboratory tests, suggesting a broader outbreak.
The continued increase was met with a decline in cases in the West Bank, which is still wrangling the third wave. A one-time nexus of the outbreak, Ramallah experienced a 32% decrease in new cases from last week to this week. And Bethlehem, where the first cases were detected last spring, saw a 22% drop in cases over the last seven days.
According to the WHO’s latest situation report, hospital and ICU occupancy is at 57% in Gaza, and in the West Bank ICU capacity is at 83%.
“99% of the COVID-19 virus circulating in Palestine is from the B.1.1.7 variant (first identified in the UK), which is considered 45% more contagious than the original virus,” said the WHO, based on health data supplied by the Palestinian Authority.
Last Friday, Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud reflected on this year’s Ramadan observances, marred by a pandemic and increased tensions in Jerusalem. “Gaza has always been vulnerable to pandemics,” he wrote. “Under a hermetic blockade since 2006, the densely populated Strip lacks basic services like clean water, electricity, or equipped hospitals. Therefore, long before the coronavirus ravaged many parts of the world, Palestinians in Gaza were dying as a result of easily treatable diseases such as dysentery, salmonellosis, and typhoid fever.”
4.5 million vaccines arriving ‘soon’
This week the Palestinian Minister of Health Mai al-Kaila told the Voice of Palestine radio that 4.5 million doses of Pfizer and Russia’s Sputnik V would be arriving “soon,” according to the Palestinian outlet Wafa. Al-Kaila said 7.1% of the population in the West Bank has already been vaccinated, and 2.2% of the population in Gaza.
Today, another 20,000 doses of Sputnik V donated by Russia is due to arrive in the oPt. Thus far, the total shipments of vaccines that have arrived are: 122,100 to Gaza, and 256,340 to the West Bank.
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