Back to Contents Table 3: Number of COVID-19 cases reported among Palestinians refugees in 2021 UNRWA fields of operations Number of cases Number of deaths Jordan 8,819 928 Lebanon 13,246 348 Syria 689 3 Gaza 74,042 689 WB (including East Jerusalem) 23,723 95 Total 120,519 2,063 UNRWA, in a separate report, also noted that: “With the ongoing social and economic crisis, Palestine refugees are facing difficulties in covering their most basic health care needs, which were already inaccessible even before the crisis. There are alarming reports on Palestine refugees who are forgoing essential treatments for chronic diseases due to their inaccessibility and lack of health insurance coverage. The Agency’s hospitalization policy covers only a percentage of hospital expenses and an increasing number of Palestine refugees are now unable to cover the remaining cost of care. The reported numbers of COVID-19 related deaths show that the mortality rate for Palestine refugees is three times higher than the rates for Lebanese citizens [...] as a result of the living conditions and cramped camps where social distancing is almost impossible. As of 31 December 2021, 489 Palestine refugees have died as a result of COVID-19.” (Source: UNRWA, “Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon: Struggling to Survive”, January 2022, p. 12) The news and information services company Thomson Reuters wrote in February 2021 that: “Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are three times more likely to die with COVID-19 than the population as a whole, according to U.N. figures that highlight the pandemic’s outsized impact on the community. […] Most Palestinians who died after contracting the disease in Lebanon had health conditions such as cardiac or pulmonary issues, which are aggravated by poverty and conditions in the camps, said UNRWA spokeswoman Hoda Samra. Cramped living conditions and the need to go out to work meant Palestinian refugees were more likely to be exposed to the virus, she added. «Vulnerable communities tend to have poorer baseline health conditions, hence more co-morbidities and chronic health conditions,» said Joelle Abi Rached, an associate researcher at Sciences Po University in Paris.” (Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation News “Palestinian refugees in Lebanon three times more likely to die with COVID-19”, 16 February 2021) The World Food Programme reported in June 2020 about Palestinian refugees’ access to medicine in Lebanon: “Out of respondents who had to buy medicine in the last month, 56 percent of Lebanese respondents reported facing challenges in accessing medicine, while 71 percent of Palestinians and 73 percent of Syrians reported encountering challenges. With vast majorities not being able to afford medicine.” 6. Access to health care 64