Palestine confirms new coronavirus case, toll at 26

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinian authorities confirmed on Tuesday a new coronavirus case in the occupied West Bank.

"The Health Ministry has reported a new coronavirus case in Bethlehem, which increased the number of people infected with coronavirus to 26," government spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said in a statement.

Last week, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced a state of emergency in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Jericho over suspected coronavirus cases.

The ministry said a hotel in Bethlehem was quarantined due to a number of suspected cases.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaileh said on Thursday that they decided to activate the emergency plan in the governorates of Bethlehem and Jericho.

Accordingly, all educational institutions and training centers in the Bethlehem Governorate are closed for 14 days.

The disease has spread to at least 100 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) that declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

The global death toll is now over 3,800 with more than 110,000 confirmed cases, the majority being in China.

As part of the efforts to contain the outbreak, some governments closed their borders and suspended land and air travel with many countries including China, Iran, Italy, and South Korea.

Last month, the WHO updated the global risk assessment of the coronavirus to very high.