Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ashtiyeh has declared that the lockdown throughout the West Bank will be renewed during the upcoming Muslim religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr despite the slowdown in coronavirus cases.
He said in a press conference that movement will be banned in all cities, towns, and villages for four days throughout the holiday starting from May 22 night. Ashtiyeh told reporters that the government will consider easing the lockdown measures after the holiday depending on the situation of the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, businesses of all sectors are allowed to continue working as usual until the eve of the holiday.
Around 33,000 Palestinian workers are expected to return from Israel into the West Bank for the holiday. Precautionary measures taken by the PA earlier overlooked laborers, causing a sharp rise in infections.
In this context, no new coronavirus cases were reported for the ninth day in a row except for Jerusalem. A total of 12 cases recovered in Ramallah and suburbs of Jerusalem, according to Health Minister Mai al-Kaileh.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Palestine has reached 554, and 107 out of them are active cases distributed as follows: 61 in Jerusalem, 40 in West Bank northern provinces, and 6 cases in Gaza Strip southern provinces. The number of recoveries increased to 443, which is 80 percent of overall cases. A tally of 2,597 cases was home quarantined, raising the total to 18,971.
