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Gaza: 29 returnees from Egypt test positive for virus

May 21, 2020 at 10:30 pm

Security forces loyal Gaza’s Hamas, wearing personal protective equipment as a precaution against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, check the papers of an intensive care ambulance at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 13, 2020, after the crossing was temporarily reopened for four days. – The Palestinian embassy in Egypt announced that Egyptian authorities temporarily reopened the border crossing with the Palestinian enclave today, and for four days until April 16, to help facilitate the movement of Palestinians wishing to return to the Gaza Strip. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

At least 29 Palestinians in Gaza have contracted the new coronavirus, the Health Ministry in Gaza said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Yousef Abu al-Reesh, Gaza’s deputy health minister, said in a press conference that 29 infections were reported among the new returnees who recently arrived from Egypt via the Rafah crossing and they tested positive while in quarantine.

The health authorities are investigating if those infected patients have contacted with others in Gaza, he added.

With these new infections, the total cases in Palestine — in the occupied West Bank and Gaza — stand at 569.

Worldwide, the coronavirus pandemic has killed over 328,700 people, with more than 5 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 1.9 million, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

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