Hamas official warns strong Omicron wave to strike Gaza in coming weeks

Xinhua
11 Jan 2022, 11:49 GMT+10

GAZA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Health Ministry run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza on Monday warned that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 would rapidly spread in the Gaza Strip in the coming weeks.

"There are deep concerns and fear that the Gaza Strip will witness in the coming weeks a strong and uncontrolled wave of Omicron variant," health ministry official Majdi Dhair told Xinhua.

He said the several cases recently identified "weren't among returning travelers from abroad," which means that Omicron is already spreading in communities, and there are possible cases that the ministry doesn't know about.

"We have a fear that we're facing a rapid spread of the disease that will also be very violent and increase the number of patients needing urgent medical care," Dhair said, adding that the ministry in Gaza "can't deal with it."

On Sunday, Dhair urged the international community to pressure Israel to let more medical equipment into the Gaza Strip, including ventilators and oxygen.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank has reported 291 new Omicron cases in the Palestinian territories combined so far this week, up from 49 last week.

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