Gaza strip was already suffering from a shortage of medical supplies since the inception of the Covid19 pandemic. The shortage had allowed the authorities to administer a very low number of Coronavirus tests. Now, the only lab able to process critical tests like Covid in Gaza city was destroyed in a heavy airstrike by Israel on Monday, May 17.
The airstrike that targeted a building in Gaza city partially destroyed the lab and the administrative office of the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Dr. Majdi Dhair, director of the ministry’s preventive medicine department said, the strike “sent shrapnel and debris flying across the street, damaging lab and administrative office of the Hamas-run Health Ministry.” During the airstrike, several medical personnel was critically injured.
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Consequently, the lab testing is temporarily delayed and Covid 19 test results are postponed. Along with Covid19 other test results related to HIV, hepatitis C and other conditions will also be delayed.
In the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict, heavy airstrikes and rocket fires claimed more lives on both sides on Tuesday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed that Israel would continue the onslaught on the coastal enclave as long as necessary. Witnessing this aggression by Israel, the UN Security Council was scheduled to host an emergency meeting to push the battle to an end.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces and protestors have clashed at multiple flashpoints across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In the intense bombing around 213 Palestinians, including 61 children were killed. More than 1400 people in the Gaza strip are injured in less than a week.