RAMALLAH, Thursday, December 24, 2020 (WAFA) – Palestine today recorded 1,704 new Covid-19 cases and 17 deaths, according to Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh.

Al-Kaileh announced that 1,704 Palestinians contracted the virus and 17 others died of it in the occupied territories.

Among the new 1,704 cases, 898 cases were recorded in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and 806 others in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The West Bank new confirmed cases were distributed as follows: 78 cases in Tulkarm governorate, 42 in Salfit, 134 in Nablus, 62 in Jerusalem suburbs, 151 in Hebron, 24 in Qalqilia, 73 in Bethlehem, 211 in Ramallah, 95 in Jenin, 15 in Tubas and 13 in Jericho.

Al-Kaileh identified the new deaths as eight deaths from the West Bank and nine from Gaza. The West Bank deaths were distributed as follows: one in Tulkarm, another in Jerusalem suburbs, two in Bethlehem, two in Ramallah, one in Jenin and one in Tubas.  

Al-Kaileh added that 2,291 Covid-19 patients recovered in the occupied territories; 1,626 recovery cases in the West Bank and 665 in the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank recoveries were distributed as follows: 77 in Tulkarm, 46 in Salfit, 198 in Nablus, 358 in Jerusalem suburbs, 214 in Hebron, 48 in Qalqilia, 82 in Bethlehem, 218 in Ramallah, 341 in Jenin, 26 in Tubas and 18 in Jericho.

She pointed that 122 Covid-19 patients are still hospitalized in intensive care units, including 29 who are connected to respirators.

According to the latest coronavirus data, the confirmed cases in the occupied territories (West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza) reached 145,422.

Out of the 145,422 cases, 93,017 are recorded in the West Bank, 36,063 in the Gaza Strip and 16,342 in East Jerusalem.

Recoveries have totaled 119,938, and the death toll reached 1,364, leaving a total of 24,120 active cases.

Recoveries account for 82.5 percent of total cases since the pandemic outbreak in March, active cases for 16.6 percent and the death toll accounts for 0.9 percent.

K.F.