Coronavirus-free Palestine on high alert for outbreak: health minister

Mohammad Toutah, a 34-year-old Palestinian artist, carves letters with sands in Arabic written "Palestine in Solidarity with China" on the beach of Gaza City, Feb. 17, 2020.(Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kailah said on Sunday that Palestine is still free of coronavirus infection as the health authorities are being on high alert for the possibility of any outbreak.

"I call on different sectors, not only the health sector, but others too, to think on how to raise awareness among the Palestinian people of the virus," said al-Kailah.

"The top priority (for people) is how to fight coronavirus, how to take care of themselves, and how to adopt hygienic practices," she added.

All preventive measures will be taken under the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), the minister noted.

The Palestinian government has fully equipped laboratories for testing and a dedicated quarantine building for suspected cases, according to the minister.

Meanwhile, Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the WHO office in the occupied Palestinian territories, said they "work very closely with the (Palestinian) Ministry of Health to put the right measures in place."

"We are learning obviously a lot from the Chinese experience and we try to apply all the lessons learnt from China in the Palestinian context," he added.