The U.N. is appealing for nearly $95 million to contain and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in densely populated Palestinian refugee camps across the Middle East.
Overcrowded Palestinian camps are perfect breeding grounds for the coronavirus. Social distancing is difficult, and access is limited to the sanitary and health conditions necessary to keep the virus at bay.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, says its efforts aimed at containing the virus in the camps over the past few months had been largely successful. Unfortunately, that has changed. Agency spokeswoman Tamara Alrifal says there has been a dramatic jump of COVID-19 infections over the last few weeks, from 200 cases to 4,000 cases.
“The jump is mostly due to the longer-term socio-economic impact of the lockdowns and the closures and the fact that beyond a few weeks, it was not possible to keep everybody confined in camps because Palestine refugees needed to go back to work to livelihoods,” she said.
