RAMALLAH, Friday, March 20, 2020 (WAFA) - Palestine Friday morning confirmed a new COVID-19 case and the recovery of 17 others, reducing the current number of confirmed cases in the occupied territories to 31.

Speaking during a press conference in Ramallah, Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh announced that a Palestinian man who recently returned from Pakistan tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He was identified as a resident of Qarawat Bani Hassan town, northwest of Salfit city.

Al-Kaileh also announced that 17 COVID-19 patients who had been in quarantine at the Angel Hotel in Beit Jala city near Bethlehem, the epicenter of the pandemic, have recovered, and that 19 suspected cases also in quarantine at the hotel tested negative for the virus.

“The recovered patients along with the cases who tested negative for the virus are allowed to go to their homes, where they should remain in home quarantine for 14 days, take their temperatures twice a day, have good nutrition, follow home-based care and undergo another test following the end of the home quarantine period. If their test results are negative, they will be able to lead their ordinary lives,” she said.

Commenting on the state of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails, she noted that she has contacted and urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help secure health treatment for the prisoners.

She also stressed the need to test and follow-up on the conditions of Palestinian workers in Israel who return home.

On March 18, Israeli ‘Defense’ Minister Naftali Bennett announced that Palestinian workers who happen to work in “sectors essential to the Israeli economy”, such as agriculture, health and construction, would have to stay in Israel with the employers providing lodging.

K.F.