WHO supplies Gaza with COVID-19 testing kits amid shortage

A health worker, affiliated to Palestinian Health Ministry, collects a nasal swab sample for a coronavirus (COVID-19) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in Gaza City, Gaza on September 21, 2020 [Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency]

A few days after Gaza’s Health Ministry warned against the shortage of COVID-19 testing swabs, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov hailed the World Health Organisation in Occupied Palestinian Territory on Monday for supplying Gaza with more testing kits.

In a tweet, Mladenov thanked the organisation “for maintaining a steady supply of #COVID19 materials in response to the acute shortages in #Gaza.”

He added that the World Health Organisation in Occupied Palestinian Territory delivered “20,000 more swabs and laboratory extraction supplies for 6,000 tests” to Gaza on Monday.

READ: Gaza slowly lifts lockdown after 24 days

Mladenov hailed the organisation for its “critical work to contain the spread of the virus.”

This came after Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday that COVID-19 testing swabs were “enough for several days only.”

Gaza has seen a total of 2,400 COVID-19 cases, including 17 deaths, since March, according to the Health Ministry.

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