Palestinian health minister recommends lockdown in the West Bank

The occupied territory facing ‘most difficult period’ of pandemic due to surge in COVID cases, PA health minister says.

The Palestinian Health Ministry has recommended a two-week lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus infections across the West Bank. Palestinian Authority’s Health Minister Mai al-Kaila suggested Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh implement a comprehensive closure as positive cases had increased by some 20-30 percent, while hospital beds in several places are nearing full capacity, according to a statement on the ministry website. “This is the third wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Palestine,” al-Kaila told local media on Friday. “And it is the most difficult period we have experienced since the beginning of the pandemic.”