8 deaths and 426 new coronavirus cases in Palestine

Palestine recorded 426 new coronavirus cases and eight fatalities today, according to Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kailah.

She announced that 321 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have tested positive for the disease and five fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours.

In Gaza, where poverty is rampant and infrastructure lacking, 37 new infections have been confirmed, while 68 people were reported with the disease, along with three deaths in East Jerusalem.

The Gaza Strip is home to two million Palestinians in cities, towns, and refugee camps squeezed within an area of 360 square kilometres, with its borders sealed off by neighbouring Israel and Egypt.

Authorities have imposed a full or partial curfew across the Gaza Strip since 24 August, following the diagnosis of the first case of COVID-19 in the community.

The lockdown has since been partially eased but schools, mosques, and other public facilities remain closed. A nightly curfew is also in effect.

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In a press statement, Al-Kailah identified five of the eight fatalities as a 61-year-old man from Ash-Shuyukh town, northeast of Hebron, an 88-year-old man from Hebron city, a 54-year-old woman from Bethlehem, a 77-year-old woman from Qalqilya and a 78-year-old man from Ramallah. The remaining three were from occupied East Jerusalem.

According to the Wafa news agency, Al-Kailah added that 696 coronavirus patients have recovered in the occupied territories, including 319 recovery cases in Jerusalem over the last two days.