6 April 2021 – WHO continues to support occupied Palestinian territory during the COVID-19 pandemic with the treatment of patients suffering from severe COVID-19 taking centre stage during a training workshop delivered to nurses working in, or who will be assigned to, COVID-19 intensive care units (ICUs).

Basic ICU training was delivered to doctors in December 2020, and the Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip subsequently made an urgent request to train non-ICU nurses in response to an exponential increase in the number of cases of severe COVID-19 patients.

Ten senior critical care nurses were identified as co-facilitators and lead instructors, while virtual meetings with senior critical care nurses took place on a weekly basis to contextualize the training materials to best meet local needs. A mission was then deployed from the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean to deliver a 3-day training of trainers’ workshop in March 2021. Two hundred nurses will receive cascade training through 10 2-day workshops attended by 20 nurses in each session.

Follow-up support will continue to be provided by WHO to ensure that the nurses are following best practices in the workplace.

WHO also conducted an ICU assessment of COVID-19 hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and is planning ahead for high dependency units training for doctors in the near future.