GAZA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Abu Ahmed Al-Baqa, owner of a cafe at the beach of the Gaza Strip, has had no business income for the past three weeks during which his cafe was forced to shut down as part of the preventive measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in the Palestinian enclave.

"The cafe was always busy with customers, but it stopped all of a sudden after the government's recent measures," Al-Baqa, in his 30s, told Xinhua.

Al-Baqa, who rents the property from the Gaza municipality for thousands of U.S. dollars annually, said he has lost some 200 dollars since the closure involving the rent and workers' wages, expressing hope that his cafe will be allowed to reopen before the end of the summer season to avoid further losses.

More than 500 tourist establishments, including hotels, restaurants, wedding halls and cafes, have closed in Gaza after the government anti-coronavirus lockdown decision, leading to the temporary unemployment of more than 7,000 workers.

Eman Awwad, vice president of the Hotels and Restaurants Association in Gaza, warned of a possible collapse of the tourism sector in the coastal enclave if strict anti-virus measures continue, as "98 percent of hotels, restaurants, tourist resorts and wedding halls are closed."

The tourism sector in Gaza depends largely on domestic consumption in the light of the ongoing 13-year Israeli blockade on the enclave, she noted, estimating the sector's losses at millions of dollars.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip hit 49 percent in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the average level of 27 percent in the Palestinian territories.

Palestine recorded its first COVID-19 case on March 5 while the first cases were recorded on Aug. 24 in the Gaza Strip with a population of 2 million. Enditem

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