JERUSALEM

The Palestinian Health Ministry on Thursday announced three new deaths caused by the novel coronavirus and 596 more infections.

Authorities have so far reported 69 fatalities and a total of 11,875 confirmed cases, including 3,394 recoveries, a ministry statement said.

A rapid increase in the number of cases was observed in the occupied East Jerusalem, the statement added.

On March 22, the ministry confirmed the first two cases of the virus in the Gaza Strip.

In mid-June, the Health Ministry said that Palestine is facing a second wave of the coronavirus, with infections rapidly rising.

In the first wave of the virus, the highest single-day cases were 39 infections, while in the second wave they reached near 600.

The Palestinian Authority on July 5 declared a state of emergency in the West Bank for a month to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 624,100 people worldwide, with over 15.25 million confirmed cases and nearly 8.7 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz