RAMALLAH, Monday, February 22, 2021 (WAFA) – The number of coronavirus cases in the West Bank has seen a surge lately with 1272 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours and eight deaths, while the number dropped in the Gaza Strip to 62 new cases and two deaths, today said Minister of Health Mai Alkaila in her daily report on coronavirus in Palestine.

She said that 530 corona patients have recovered in the West Bank in the last 24 hours, and 85 in the Gaza Strip. There was no data available from East Jerusalem.

At the same time, 85 patients remain in intensive care units, among them 21 are on respirators, said the Health Minister.

With the surge, the number of active corona cases in Palestine currently stands at 6.3 percent of the total corona cases recorded since the outbreak in Palestine last March, while recoveries have reached 92.6 percent of the total, and deaths remained at 1.1 percent.

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh warned today in the cabinet meeting that if the numbers continue to rise, the country may face a new tight lockdown to contain the disease.

The West Bank and Gaza Strip did not yet start mass inoculation of their population due to delay in the arrival of the vaccines, purchased or donated from different sources but mainly from Russia.

M.K.