Hamas-controlled Health Ministry reports Gaza's first coronavirus death

Hamas has closed crossings with Egypt and Israel except for essential traffic, but, unlike the West Bank, it said a full lockdown was not yet needed.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, REUTERS
Palestinians, wearing masks as a preventive measure against the coronavirus disease, work in a bakery in Gaza City (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
Palestinians, wearing masks as a preventive measure against the coronavirus disease, work in a bakery in Gaza City
(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry announced on Saturday the first death of a Palestinian infected with coronavirus in the Gaza Strip.
 
The victim was identified as 77-year-old Fadila Muhammad Abu Raida, a resident of Khan Yunis.
The Health Ministry said the woman, who had a history of chronic diseases, died in a quarantine center near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 19 and had been kept in quarantine since. She suffered from a prior chronic illness, the ministry said.
Hamas has closed crossings with Egypt and Israel except for essential traffic, but, unlike the West Bank, it said a full lockdown was not yet needed.
 Gaza has reported only 55 coronavirus infection cases among its population of some two million. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, there have been two deaths and 423 cases, according to a Reuters tally.
Earlier this month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas extended the state of emergency, which was first announced in early March, to June 5.