Gaza City, March 30 (RHC)-- Local authorities in the blockaded Gaza Strip have imposed a night time lock-down to help combat the spread of coronavirus.

Security forces are currently enforcing a curfew from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m.  In recent days, the number of infections has risen to an alarming level.  The impoverished enclave’s fragile health system suffers from acute shortages in medicines and hospital supplies due to the illegal Israeli blockade.

Hospitals in Gaza currently have less than two hundred ICU beds and ventilators for nearly two million inhabitants.  Due to the Israeli blockade, Gazans are under terrible strain and their worries over the coronavirus have been heavily compounded.  Gazans are already struggling to make ends meet amid the punishing Israeli blockade.

In late August 2020, a full lockdown was imposed on the Gaza Strip for a period of two weeks after authorities confirmed the first coronavirus cases spread through the community.

The ongoing Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza is one of the main reasons why tackling the deadly Coronavirus pandemic is particularly difficult.  People are bracing themselves for the worst as coronavirus infections continue to increase.  Experts have warned that a wider outbreak of the pandemic could be catastrophic.