Four new coronavirus cases confirmed in Palestinian territories, total at 35

Four new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Palestinian territories, raising the total number of cases to 35.

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Four new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Palestinian territories, raising the total number of cases to 35, the spokesman for the government Ibrahim Melhem said on Friday.

The new cases were found in the city of Bethlehem, he added.

The four people were all family members of previously confirmed cases and had come into contact with them, Melhem said.

The Palestinian Authority has succeeded in keeping the outbreak confined to Bethlehem by imposing an entry and exit ban, according to the spokesman.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had declared a 30-day state of emergency earlier this week after the several cases of the deadly virus were reported in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Officials closed Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplaces of Jesus, and banned foreign tourists from West Bank hotels.

(With Reuters)