JERUSALEM, Wednesday, October 21, 2020 (WAFA) – The family of Saeb Erekat, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and longtime Palestinian negotiator, said today that there has been no change in his health condition since yesterday.

Hadassah hospital in West Jerusalem, where Erekat is being hospitalized since Sunday when he was admitted in critical condition following complications to his respiratory system after contracting the coronavirus disease, said in a statement last night that Erekat, who had a lung transplant in October 2017 in the United States after developing Cronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), was connected to an ECMO machine to support his lung function.

“Using this machine allows the blood to be oxygenated while allowing the lungs to rest and avoid ventilator-associated lung injury, particularly of the transplanted lung,” said the statement. “He is now well-settled and stable on ECMO with excellent oxygenation - and on reduced mechanical ventilation which is not damaging to the lungs.”

M.K.