Gaza Strip to tighten measures against coronavirus variants during Ramadan

GAZA, April 13 -- The Islamic Hamas movement, which is in control of the Gaza Strip, decided on Monday to tighten the precautionary measures to battle the coronavirus during the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadan, reported Xinhua.

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said in a statement that traffic all over the Gaza Strip will be banned everyday from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The new measures will be valid starting Tuesday for 30 days until the end of Ramadan, and a full lockdown will start from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., which includes the closure of shops and stores, it added.

"Gatherings of people in public places and on streets, including outdoor weddings and weekly public markets, will also be banned during the fasting month of Ramadan," the statement said.

Eyad al-Bozzom, the interior ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that people must abide by all the required precautionary measures, mainly wearing face masks when they pray at the mosques during Ramadan.

The Gaza Strip has recently witnessed an unexpected surge in daily infections due to the outbreak of more contagious coronavirus strains in the besieged enclave.

On Monday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said 2,762 new COVID-19 infections and 26 deaths were registered across the Palestinian territories during the last 24 hours.

Among the new 2,762 cases, 998 cases were recorded in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and 1,764 others in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Currently, the vaccination campaign has been going on smoothly across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. So far, 146,986 people have received their first jab of the vaccine in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of whom 14,674 received the second dose, according to the Health Ministry.

--BERNAMA