RAMALLAH, Sunday, April 5, 2020 (WAFA) - The Ministry of Health confirmed today nine  more cases of the novel COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the occupied West Bank, bringing up the total cases in Palestine to 226.

Kamal Shakhra, director-general for Primary Healthcare at the Ministry of Health, said during the morning briefing on the pandemic that the nine cases were reported in the governorates of Ramallah, Jenin, and Jerusalem.

He explained that the largest number of cases came from Palestinians working in two poultry factories in Israel, both owned by one person, in addition to those who came in contact with them.

He said there are two strains of the coronavirus, and that the strain currently present in Palestine has symptoms that are less dangerous than that in other countries like Italy.

Shakhra added that although the Ministry of Health has not lost control of the situation and has developed plans to deal with a huge number of patients nationwide, "We are on the brink of catastrophe if there is no full [public] compliance with Ministry of Health regulations."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health shut down the governmental hospital of Thabet Thabet in the city of Tulkarm and transfer it into a specialized center for treatment of COVID-19 patients, after a coronavirus patient had visited the hospital before he was referred to a center specialized to receive coronavirus patients.

K.T/M.N