Palestine declares state of emergency over coronavirus

RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Health Ministry on Thursday announced a state of emergency in the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Jericho over suspected coronavirus cases.

The ministry said a hotel in Bethlehem was quarantined due to a number of suspected cases.

All hotel reservations were cancelled and tourists temporarily restricted in the cities.

All mosques, churches and educational institutions will remain closed for a fortnight, the period the virus takes to show symptoms.

The ministry called on citizens to remain calm.

The new coronavirus known as COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, last December and has now spread to over 80 countries.

The global death toll is over 3,200, with more than 95,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO, which had declared the outbreak an international health emergency, recently updated the global risk level to “very high”.