RAMALLAH, Wednesday, March 18, 2020 (WAFA) – Palestine Tuesday late night confirmed three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the occupied territories to 44.

Government spokesman Ibrahim Melhim announced that two women and a man from Beit Sahour city tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The three cases, already in isolation under home quarantine, contracted the virus after one of them didn‘t fully abide to the quarantine.

Melhim added that the samples of 402 new suspected cases were tested, and the results were negative.

He urged Palestinian residents of Bethlehem district to take the home quarantine more seriously and establish a culture of extreme hygiene.

He pointed out that the government was considering taking more precautionary measures to combat the outbreak pandemic in Bethlehem district, including asking security services to impose stricter sanctions on suspected cases who fail to abide by quarantine.

Of the 44 confirmed cases, 40 cases are from Bethlehem district, two cases from Tulkarem district, one from Ramallah and another from Nablus district.

K.T./ K.F.