Days Of Palestine – Jericho

The Ministry of Health announced on Friday that it has tested 51 suspected Coronavirus cases in Jericho city and that they were all negative.

Spokesman for Health Ministry Tarif Ashour confirmed that Ministry’s medical teams tested the samples of 51 suspected Covid-19 patients at Jericho Resort Village, where a group of Greek tourists stayed during a tour in late February, and the test results turned out to be negative.

He added that teams of the Ministry’s Central Lab continue to test scores of samples for suspected cases from various districts.

This came after a total of seven Palestinians from Bethlehem have tested positive for the virus. The seven worked at a hotel near Bethlehem, where the same group of Greek tourists stayed during their tour of the Palestinian territories and Israel.

Media reports said that 23 Greek tourists among the group tested positive for the virus after returning to their country.

The hotel, located in Beit Jala city, has been placed under lockdown and designated as a quarantine site.

Designating the hotel as such was among the series of emergency procedures announced by the government, an announcement which came on the heels of President Mahmoud Abbas’ declaration of a month-long state of emergency in the occupied territories to fight the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).