The Hamas-run “Health Ministry” in the Gaza Strip on Monday announced a 48-hour curfew in the entire territory after the first cases of coronavirus spread through the community, The Associated Press reported.
Until now, all the cases reported in Gaza were linked to quarantine facilities for residents returning from abroad.
The “Health Ministry” said four people from the same family have tested positive for the virus in central Gaza and investigations were underway to track the source of the infection. A full lockdown was imposed on the al-Maghazi refugee camp, where the family lives.
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.
Gaza recorded its first death from COVID-19 in late May. The death was a 77-year-old woman from the district of Khan Yunis who had returned from Egypt the previous week.