Gaza resumes coronavirus testing amid kits shortages – spokesman

Coronavirus testing has resumed in the Gaza Strip after Israel allowed five testing kits purchased by the World Health Organization (WHO) into the enclave. A Gaza Health Ministry spokesman, Ashraf al-Qidra, said on Monday that the kits would be of “limited immediate help” because they could be used to test only about 500 people in a densely populated territory of two million.

“We began testing immediately after receiving the kits late [on Sunday] night,” Qidra said. “We need to carry out these tests all the time and therefore, we are in need of thousands of testing kits.”

Health officials in Gaza said on April 8 that they had run out of testing kits and voiced concern that a shortage of medical supplies could lead to a rapid spread of infection in the territory.

Gaza has 13 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, all in quarantine, Reuters reports. Israel has maintained a blockade of the enclave for more than a decade, saying the measure is necessary to stop weapons and funds from reaching Hamas, an Islamist group that runs Gaza.