The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic – Caritas brings assistance to the Palestine’s West Bank region
27.10.2020
The coronavirus pandemic first hit Palestine in March 2020, when some tourists staying at Bethlehem were diagnosed with having contracted the virus. This is when both the country’s healthcare system and economy started to have problems. It was mainly because the pandemic struck the pilgrimage tourism – one of the most important sources of profit for Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian healthcare had been struggling with a shortage of specialists even before the pandemic begun. The first COVID-19 cases only made the situation worse. Insufficient knowledge about the coronavirus within the community caused many doctors to contract the virus themselves and be ordered to go through quarantine. It coincided with first reports by the Ministry of Health on the lack of life-saving equipment.
The coronavirus wreaked havoc not only in hospitals. Many people who did everyday on and off jobs faced a dilemma whether to stay at home to protect the health of their families and their own, or to go to work to make a living.
The Palestinian authorities introduced restrictions to stop the pandemic from spreading at its very outbreak. However, the initial total ban on leaving homes was later suspended. Nowadays, regulations apply mainly to large gatherings, such as weddings.
In hospitals and care centres there is still a growing need for all kind of medical assistance. The society’s awareness about prevention in the fight against COVID-19 still remains low.
In response to such need, Caritas Poland, thanks to Polish Aid’s funds, has been running a project under which the Palestinian healthcare system will receive four ventilators, and six care centres and a walk-in centre will obtain personal protective gear. These include: the Al-Basma centre running workshops and vocational activisation for the disabled, centres for the blind and persons with sight impairments (House of Hope and Al-Shurooq), centres for the disabled (Jamima and Familia Religiosa del Verbo Encarnado), and last but not least, a centre for the children from impoverished families run by Polish Sisters of St. Elizabeth – Home of Peace. Also, the patients of the Taybeh Health Center will be able to make use of the preventive equipment that has been handed over under the initiative.
Moreover, an information campaign in social media promoting preventive measures against the COVID-19 has been planned.
It is a new project, launched on 1 September 2020, at the request of the Palestinian Ministry of Health.