RAMALLAH, Monday, June 8, 2020 (WAFA) – Eight new coronavirus cases were confirmed overnight in the West Bank raising total in Palestine to 651, said Minister of Health Mai Alkaila, and two corona-related deaths were reported among diaspora Palestinians, raising total to 121, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

Alkaila said in a statement that the eight new cases included three children and were discovered in the town of Haloul, near the city of Hebron in the south of the West Bank. They were the result of interacting with a bus driver who was infected with the disease.

As a result of the new discoveries, Hebron governor Jibrin al-Bakri imposed a lockdown on the town and ordered restriction on movement and activities in order to contain the disease and stop its spread.

Of the 651 total in Palestine, 402 were in the West Bank, 70 in the Gaza Strip and 179 in occupied East Jerusalem. Of the total cases, 362 have recovered in the West Bank and two deaths, 41 in the Gaza Strip and one death, and 155 in East Jerusalem and two deaths.

In the diaspora, the Foreign Ministry said the two new deaths were for 49-year-old Ammar Ahmad Abu Nasser, and Mohammad Khalil al-Farra, 62, and both were in Kuwait, bringing total deaths among diaspora Palestinians to 121, most of them in the United States.

A total of 1,855 coronavirus cases were reported among diaspora Palestinians and 1,033 recoveries, said the ministry.

M.K.