Palestinians report first death from coronavirus

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian workers make their way to disinfect religious sites as preventive measures against the coronavirus, in Ramallah in the in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 7, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File Photo

The Palestinians reported their first death from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a woman in her 60s who lived in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"The woman had experienced symptoms and was later hospitalised" before succumbing to the illness, said Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank.

The woman was from Bidu, a Palestinian village north of Jerusalem and southwest of Ramallah, Melhem added.

FILE PHOTO: A member of a medical team sprays disinfectants to sanitize the suit of his colleague in a Red Crescent-run hospital which will be used for coronavirus quarantine, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma/File Photo

There are 62 confirmed coronavirus cases among Palestinians in the West Bank, and two in the Gaza Strip.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta; Writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Mark Heinrich)