Dr. Bilal Rahal, Director of the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the faculty of Medicine in An-Najah University, stressed on the importance of awareness activities about the virus, especially in light of increasing fears from the virus among the community and the spread of non-factual information across the social media.  

The lecture was presented by Dr. Suad Belkabir, a specialist in preventive medicine and public health. She provided detailed information about the emerging virus, and stressed on the necessity of adopting accurate sources of information about the virus, which is the World Health Organization in addition to the information published by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, without following misleading information from non-medical sources that may include false information. Dr. Belkabir presented current statistics on the virus, and noted that Palestine is among only 49 countries around the world that have an accurate examination for Coronavirus, through central laboratories in Ramallah, and that all 83 samples that were recently tested were proved to be negative (not infected with the virus).

Dr. Belkabir explained the nature of the virus, as it consists of DNA and a protein that takes the shape of a crown, hence the name Corona is a Latin word for crown, and it is a virus found in animals and transmitted to humans. It comes after the SARS virus that appeared in China in 2003 and the MERS virus that appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012, and the COVID 19 is not considered lethal as the death rate from the Corona virus ranges from 2-3%, which is the lowest among those viruses, and it is also less than the death rate from regular influenza. Then, she talked about the methods of transmitting the virus, as it is commonly transmitted by droplets in close proximity and has an incubation period of 2-14 days, thus it requires greater caution. She noted that the virus poses a greater risk to the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases and people who have direct contact with animals. The virus is also dangerous for medical staff who interact with COVID 19 patients directly, if they do not wear protective clothing.

As for the methods of prevention, Dr. Belkabir listed washing hands well with soap and water or alcohol regularly, and in the case of coughing or sneezing, one must use tissues or sneeze through the top of the sleeves or on a bent arm, in order to avoid spreading droplets. In addition, she recommended to avoid close contacts with other people, avoid direct contact with animals without protection, and sufficiently prepare cooked meat.

At the end of the lecture, Dr. Belkabir encouraged the audience to be reassured and not panic because there are no infected cases in Palestine, and to take general prevention measures from Corona and other viruses. A video produced by the WHO was screened to the audience.