2020 was a bad year for Gaza hotel-turned quarantine centers

Hotels in the Gaza Strip were unable to host New Year's Eve parties as they turned into quarantine centers due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has led them to incur great losses that bode ill for the sector.
A Palestinian man wearing a protective face mask as a preventive measure against the nivid coronavirus, walks inside a closed wedding venue in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2020. - Authorities in Gaza today confirmed the first two cases of novel coronavirus, identifying them as Palestinians who had travelled to Pakistan and were being held in quarantine since their return. The United Nations has warned that a COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza could be disastrous, given the high poverty rates and
A Palestinian man wearing a protective face mask as a preventive measure against the coronavirus walks inside a closed wedding venue in Rafah, Gaza Strip, March 22, 2020. - Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images
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Ahmed el-Komi

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — New Year’s Eve was different this year in the Gaza Strip. Instead of hosting parties and organizing celebrations, hotels hosted individuals kept in quarantine as a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Since March, and as part of the strict measures taken to combat the virus that causes COVID-19, the Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip has transformed Gaza hotels into quarantine centers for those returning to Gaza. This prevented hoteliers from hosting New Year's Eve events.

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