A Palestinian girl wearing a face mask walks on a street in Gaza City, on Sept. 16, 2020. Palestine recorded on Wednesday 963 new COVID-19 cases, 15 new deaths and 552 more recoveries in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, a senior Palestinian official said. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
RAMALLAH, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestine recorded on Wednesday 963 new COVID-19 cases, 15 new deaths and 552 more recoveries in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, a senior Palestinian official said.
Mai al-Kaila, the Palestinian health minister, said in a press statement that "since the coronavirus outbreak started in the Palestinian territories in March, the health ministry has recorded 42,379 cases, including 276 deaths and 29,583 recoveries."
The recovery rate from the virus in the Palestinian territories reached 69.8 percent and the death rate remained 0.7 percent, the minister noted, adding that there are 30 cases in critical conditions.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said that he instructed the security authorities to tighten procedures and toughen penalties for individuals and institutions that violate the precautionary measures.
Ishtaye made the instructions during a meeting that he chaired for the National Emergency Committee and the leaders of the security services, the WAFA news agency reported.
The meeting discussed measures to reduce the area of the virus spread in light of the steady rise in infections all over the Palestinian territories. Enditem
