Sun 05 April 2020:
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian and Syrian refugees living in overcrowded and rundown camps in Lebanon are bracing for the novel coronavirus as aid groups mobilise to help.
Lebanon is home to tens of thousands of Palestinians living in camps that over the decades have become bustling neighbourhoods, and at least 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the conflict next door.
So far just one Palestinian, who lives outside a camp, and three Syrians have tested positive for Covid-19 compared to 520 infections and 17 deaths across Lebanon, according to officials.
But Palestinian and Syrian refugees who live in cramped quarters, including tent camps where basic services like water are poor, are particularly vulnerable to the illness.
“The main concern remains… the spread of coronavirus in the overcrowded Palestine refugee camps where there are very limited possibilities for home isolation,” said Huda Samra, a spokeswoman for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
The agency, she said, is looking to set up “isolation centres” inside the camps to quarantine anybody who needs it.
More than 174,000 Palestinians live in Lebanon, according to official figures, with most residing in camps ruled by Palestinian factions beyond the reach of Lebanese security forces.
But unofficial estimates say the Palestinians, whose forefathers fled ethnic cleansing by Zionist militias in 1948, could number as many as 500,000.
And out of the 1.5 million Syrians Lebanon says it hosts since the conflict broke out in the neighbouring country nine years ago, nearly one million are registered with the UNHCR as refugees.
Most of the Syrian refugees live in abject poverty and rely on handouts from aid groups to survive.
In both communities, the United Nations has promised to pay for tests or hospitalisation if the need arises.
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