Palestinians report first death from coronavirus


By Reuters

RAMALLAH, West Bank  - The Palestinians reported their first death from the coronavirus on Wednesday, a woman in her 60s who lived in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian workers make their way to disinfect religious sites as preventive measures against the coronavirus, in Ramallah in the in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 7, 2020. (REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/MANILA BULLETIN) FILE PHOTO: Palestinian workers make their way to disinfect religious sites as preventive measures against the coronavirus, in Ramallah in the in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 7, 2020. (REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/MANILA BULLETIN)

“The woman had experienced symptoms and was later hospitalised” before succumbing to the illness, said Ibrahim Melhem, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank.

The woman was from Bidu, a Palestinian village north of Jerusalem and southwest of Ramallah, Melhem added.

There are 62 confirmed coronavirus cases among Palestinians in the West Bank, and two in the Gaza Strip.