Most of the confirmed coronavirus cases – 151 – were discovered in the Hebron area, which has been hit hard by the disease in the past two weeks.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHPalestinian women work in a sanitiser factory amid precautions against the coronavirus, in Hebron in the West Bank March 12, 2020(photo credit: REUTERS/MUSSA QAWASMA)
Another 262 Palestinians were diagnosed with coronavirus in the past 24 hours, while one patient died of the disease, raising the death toll to 25, the Palestinian Authority announced on Thursday.Most of the confirmed coronavirus cases – 151 – were discovered in the Hebron area, which has been hit hard by the disease in the past two weeks.PA Minister of Health Mai al-Keila said that 71 cases were discovered in the Jerusalem area, eight in Ramallah and El-Bireh, one in Tulkarm, 20 in Bethlehem, three in Nablus and eight in Jericho and the Jordan Valley.The number of patients hospitalized in intensive care units has reached 15, three of whom are connected to respirators, al-Keila added, noting that the total number of active coronavirus cases among Palestinians now stands at 5,105.On Thursday morning, a 59-year-old Palestinian man from the city of Kalkilya died after contracting the virus.On Wednesday, the PA government announced that 475 cases of coronavirus were discovered in the West Bank in the past 24 hours, 316 of them in the Hebron area.Also Wednesday, the PA government decided to extend by another five days the lockdown imposed on all Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps as part of measures to curb the spread of the disease.The government said that only bakeries, pharmacies and supermarkets would be allowed to remain open during the closure.The PA government also renewed its appeal to Arab Israelis to refrain from entering the West Bank during the lockdown.
