Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila warmed that a new and more serious wave of coronavirus has started after more than 60 new cases were confirmed in the past two days.
“The second wave is more dangerous than the first as several cases were registered and the source of contraction remains unknown, in addition to the fact that medical and health staff working in hospitals have caught the disease,” she said in a statement.
As a result, the Health Ministry decided to reopen several COVID-19 centers throughout the West Bank that have been closed following a sharp drop in cases before the recent resurgence.
A health official stressed that while the previously imposed lockdown would not be reinstated, the public would be required to follow strict health protection measures, including wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.
On Thursday, more than 24 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the West Bank, raising the overall total in the Palestinian territories to 779.
Alkaila said that a physician in the northern West Bank city of Nablus has tested positive for the disease, the third physician to contract the virus on Thursday.
In addition, nine new cases were discovered in the new Palestinian coronavirus epicenter, Hebron district.
According to the latest coronavirus update, out of the 779 cases, 517 are in the West Bank, 72 in the Gaza Strip, and 186 in East Jerusalem.
Recoveries have reached 570 in total, including 370 in the West Bank, 42 in the Gaza Strip, and 155 in East Jerusalem, leaving a total of 204 active cases.
Five patients have died - two in the West Bank, two in Jerusalem, and one in the Gaza Strip.
