West Bank festivities spark fresh corona outbreak – Saudi Gazette

West Bank festivities spark fresh corona outbreak – Saudi Gazette

RAMALLAH “” By the end of May, the Palestinian Authority appeared to have quashed a coronavirus outbreak in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with only around 400 confirmed cases and just two fatalities in the territory, following a nearly three-month lockdown.

Then the wedding invitations went out.

Over the last few weeks, infections have skyrocketed across the West Bank, with more than 4,000 new cases and an additional 15 deaths. Authorities blame the surge on widespread neglect of social distancing and mask-wearing “” and on the summer wedding season, an Associated Press report said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told a Cabinet meeting on Monday that 82 percent of cases in the West Bank were linked to weddings and funerals, saying that such large public gatherings must stop "immediately“ or security forces would start breaking them up.

The Palestinian Authority imposed a strict five-day lockdown on Friday, forcing nearly all businesses to close and heavily restricting travel between towns and cities. The stay-at-home orders were renewed for another five days on Tuesday.

The epicenter of the renewed outbreak is in Hebron, the largest Palestinian city and a commercial hub of the territory. It accounts for around 75 percent of all active cases and more than two-thirds