RAMALLAH, West Bank — The town of Biddou 10 kilometers (6 miles) northwest of Jerusalem has become the new coronavirus epicenter in the Palestinian territories after the death of a 60-year-old woman due to COVID-19 on March 25. Her son, who works in Israel, had transmitted the virus to her. Meanwhile, 21 cases have so far been recorded in the town, prompting Jerusalem Gov. Adnan Ghaith to announce the complete isolation of Biddou on March 26.
The virus quickly spread to the nearby village of Qatanna, which recorded 20 cases of the coronavirus on April 1, with the total tally of infections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip reaching 134, including one death and 18 recoveries.
Palestinian workers in Israel represent the loophole that threatens to foil all of the Palestinian government’s measures to prevent the spread of the virus. A man from the village of Artas working in a petrol station in the Gush Etzion settlement north of Bethlehem contracted the virus and later transmitted it to his mother and three other people in the village.
On April 1, Palestinian government Spokesman Ibrahim Melhem announced the infection of 15 Palestinians working at a poultry factory in the Atarot settlement area; the workers hail from villages in Ramallah. Those infected had mixed with other Palestinians inside a number of nearby villages, Melhem said.
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