GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza residents have had to live with the isolation imposed on them by Israel's sea and land blockade for some 12 years now. Given this, they have been quick to adapt to the even more restricting circumstances stemming from the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The new virus has affected every part of the world, including areas without infections. In some countries, tens of thousands have died from COVID-19. The Hamas-controlled government in Gaza began taking measures to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus on March 15, among them a compulsory quarantine for everyone returning from abroad, housing them in public school buildings and private hotels. The Ministry of Health tests those in isolation after 19 days of confinement, unless someone presents with symptoms before that.

As of April 25, the World Health Organization reported 17 confirmed infections in Gaza, all of them in Gaza City. Ten people had recovered.

Preoccupied with the quarantine measures, Gazans have remained largely unaware of local love stories that have flourished in the time of COVID-19. These true stories bring to mind a passage from “Love in the Time of Cholera,” by Gabriel García Márquez: “Love was always love, anytime and anyplace, but it was more solid the closer it came to death.”