RAMALLAH, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said on Friday that Palestine has recorded a total of 218,628 COVID-19 cases including 2,333 deaths.
"Since the outbreak of the virus on March 5, 2020, the health ministry has conducted 1.215 million tests in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem," she said.
On March 5, 2020, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced that Palestine's first seven cases were detected in Bethlehem.
"A year later, combating the coronavirus in Palestine is still going on, and our medical and health teams have accumulated good experience in tackling the disease," al-Kaila said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has warned of a rise in coronavirus infections, noting that Palestine witnessed the spread of new coronavirus variants, the high rate of occupancy of hospital beds, the number of patients connected to artificial respirators, and the number of deaths.
But the ministry said that the Palestinian health system has not collapsed and it is ready to open new wards and hospitals to receive people infected with coronavirus.
On Friday, Palestine recorded 1,826 new coronavirus cases, 19 more deaths and 1,270 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Enditem