Coronavirus test
Coronavirus testiStock

The Palestinian Authority (PA) recorded the highest daily rise of COVID-19 cases on Monday since the outbreak of the pandemic in March.

PA “health minister” Mai al-Kaila said in a statement quoted by the Xinhua news agency that seven deaths and 875 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Judea and Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours.

She added that the seven deaths included "four in East Jerusalem, one in Ramallah, on in Qalqilia and one in Gaza."

"Although we saw the highest single-day rise of cases, the health ministry also recorded 1,031 recovered cases after conducting 4,433 tests," she said.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run “ministry of health” in Gaza said that it recorded 99 new COVID-19 cases in the Gaza Strip.

The PA announced last month it was prolonging a lockdown in Judea and Samaria for five days following a spike in coronavirus infections.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers declared on Saturday an extension of lockdown by 48 hours in the coastal enclave in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The first cases of COVID-19 in Gaza were reported in late March. Before that, local authorities declared a new set of precautionary measures amid concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus in the coastal enclave.

Hamas had previously closed schools, mosques and wedding halls and banned large street gatherings to halt the spread of the virus, but did not impose a lockdown on Gaza’s two million residents, saying one was not necessary.