50.2% of Covid-19 cases in Palestine are females

Palestinian women are demonstrating during the International Women’s Day in Gaza on 8 March, 2021 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

The rate of Covid-19 among females in Palestine is now 50.2 per cent of the total number of infections, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) has revealed. Of the 1,525 people who have died as a result of the virus, 41.4 per cent were females.

The figures were released yesterday on the eve of International Women’s Day. According to the PCBS, the total number of infected people in Palestinian as of 2 March was 185,338.

Meanwhile, the bureau pointed out that three Palestinian women were killed and 128 were wounded by the Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem during 2020. At the end of the year, there were 40 Palestinian women held by Israel in prison.

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It added out that the unemployment rate among women participating in the labour force stood in 2020 at 40 per cent compared with 23 per cent among men.

The PCBS also noted that the participation of women in decision-making positions is still limited compared with men. There is, for example, just one female out of sixteen governors, and none of the Palestinian mayors are women.

Palestinian women are demonstrating during the International Women’s Day in Gaza on 8 March, 2021 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

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