- Title: Seven coronavirus cases reported in West Bank
- Date: 5th March 2020
- Summary: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (MARCH 5, 2020) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN MINISTER OF HEALTH MAI ALKAILA, HOLDING NEWS CONFERENCE IN BETHLEHEM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN MINISTER OF HEALTH MAI ALKAILA, SAYING: "The medical results showed seven positive cases (of coronavirus) and they are now in quarantine in the hotel, with the hotel workers and the two doctors who did the tests. Since the morning, we ordered some necessary procedures and we announced recommendations to the people depending on the emergency mode in Bethlehem, Jericho and the Jordan valley." ALKAILA DURING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 19th March 2020 18:09
- Keywords: Israel Palestinians West Bank coronavirus epidemic first cases of coronavirus health ministry virus
- Location: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK
- City: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001C3S1553
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila said on Thursday (March 5) authorities had identified seven positive cases, all of them Palestinian employees at Bethlehem's Angel Hotel.
Health officials said they suspected the seven, the first reported cases of the illness in the Palestinian territories, contracted it from tourists who had stayed at the hotel recently.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was ordered closed and foreign tourists were banned from West Bank hotels as health officials announced seven cases of coronavirus in the Palestinian territories.
The measures by the Palestinian Authority's tourism ministry were a particular blow to Bethlehem, where businesses depend largely on visitors to the church, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born.
(Production: Roleen Tafakji/Mohammed Abu Ganeyeh) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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