Two officials in the Gaza Strip confirmed, today, Monday, that the current indicators regarding the Corona epidemic indicate that it has passed the first stage of its spread despite the continuous registration of injuries, amid warnings of a greater spread of it during the winter season.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that the numbers of injuries that are recorded daily are within the expected curve of the ministry, and there are continuous successes to correct the curve of the epidemic, and this matter depends on the commitment of citizens.
In statements to Al-Aqsa Radio affiliated with Hamas, he indicated that the injuries are concentrated in the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City, while in the central governorates, Khan Yunis and Rafah, the number of injuries is small.
Al Qudra warned of a difficult wave in the winter season, especially since the symptoms associated with seasonal influenza and respiratory diseases overlap, and the chance of infection with the Coronavirus is greater than previous times and the ability to spread during the coming period may be great.
The health spokesman in Gaza said: "The changes to the Corona virus in the world are still unknown, and there are constant fears of these transformations, especially since the winter season is high in seasonal influenza infections and various viruses are active in it."
He called on citizens (children, the elderly and people with chronic diseases) to take the seasonal flu vaccination, which is currently available at pharmacies, indicating that work is being done to provide it during the coming period in primary care centers.
"We are dealing seriously during the coming period with preventive and safety measures, and we are still touching a class of citizens who are not committed to these measures, and the more commitment there is, the better chances are to get out of this crisis with the least losses," Al Qudra said.
For his part, Salama Maarouf, head of the government media office in Gaza, said that indications indicate that we have passed the first stage of the Corona pandemic, which was in its beginnings frightening to all, which is the stage of recording high rates of injuries and instability in the spread of infection detection and increase points.
He added: "The reality today, despite the danger, there is fluctuation and instability in the registration of injuries, but it is at the rate that the Palestinian health system can comfortably handle."
And he continued: "There is almost clarity of the features of the epidemiological map at the level of spread of infection foci in the Gaza Strip, which is why government agencies embark on a new approach of cautious gradient to re-allow the work of different sectors according to prevention and safety measures.
Maarouf expressed his hope that a stage would be reached in which all the elements of life would be restored as they were before the twenty-fourth of last August, indicating at the same time that this matter is still too early to reach.
The official of the government media office said: "We still need to raise the degree of citizens´ commitment to personal safety measures, which makes us walk cautiously and in accordance with the permanent evaluation and field follow-up of all measures taken."
He pointed out that the situation in the Shejaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, is unstable, and that Corona infection is periodically recorded, and new foci are discovered within its neighborhoods, indicating that the reopening of the Shejaiya market and the mosques in this area depends on the return of epidemiological stability and the medical evaluation of the Ministry of Health.
