Palestinian workers inspect tents for patients infected with COVID-19, in the village of Halhul, near the West Bank city of Hebron, on March 17, 2020. The number of COVID-19 cases in Palestine has climbed to 41, as two new cases have been diagnosed, a Palestinian official said on Tuesday. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua)
RAMALLAH, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in Palestine has climbed to 41, as two new cases have been diagnosed, a Palestinian official said on Tuesday.
Ibrahim Melhem, the Palestinian government's spokesman, said in a press statement published on the official Palestinian News Agency that two new cases were found in the West Bank.
"One case is of a Palestinian from the West Bank city of Nablus, who has just arrived from Germany, and the other case is for a Palestinian student from Ramallah," said Melhem.
"There are 37 cases in Bethlehem, two cases in Tulkarem, one case from Nablus and one from Ramallah," said Melhem, who stressed that the Palestinians should follow the instructions of the Palestinian Health Ministry.
On March 5, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a status of emergency for one month to contain the spread of the virus in Palestine.
The Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Islamic Hamas movement, is still free of coronavirus cases, according to the health ministry in the besieged coastal enclave.
