Palestinian Laboratory Medicine Specialist, works at Medical Laboratory, in Gaza city, on December 7, 2020. The central laboratory has stopped conducting laboratory tests due to the exhaustion of the testing materials for the coronavirus. Photo by Ashraf Amra
This week will mark the one year anniversary since the first cases of the coronavirus were reported in Palestine, and a state of emergency was declared in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, where Palestine’s COVID-19 outbreak began.
Around this time last year, there were less than 10 confirmed cases of the virus in the West Bank, yet the feeling of panic and impending disaster was unshakeable. Bethlehem became unrecognizable to its residents, who were accustomed to seeing the city’s streets bustling with tourists from around the world.