Fifteen Americans have been quarantined in Bethlehem as of Thursday according to Reuters, quoting a Palestinian Authority government spokesperson.
The group is in “isolation” in the Angel Hotel in Beit Jala, where some of the first cases of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus were reported among the staff last week.
There were 19 confirmed cases of the virus in Bethlehem on Friday, and 21 confirmed cases of the virus in Israel.
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At least 21 hotel employees are suspected of having been infected with the virus; they were transferred to Israel for testing, according to TPS.
According to Imad Shahadeh, head of the local health directorate, two members of a group of Greek tourists who visited the hotel in late February were later diagnosed with the virus.
Greek health officials later reported on Thursday there were 23 new coronavirus infections among the group of tourists who traveled through Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt by bus.
Spokesperson Ibrahim Melhem told the news outlet on Saturday, “There is a 15-member American delegation in the hotel. They are still there and they are being dealt with according to quarantine regulations like all the others who are there.”
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The first quarantine restrictions on Bethlehem and other areas in the Palestinian Authority were implemented Thursday afternoon by the Palestinian Authority in coordination with Israel’s Defense Ministry.
Seven residents of Bethlehem tested positive for the novel coronavirus so far this week. These patients are being treated in isolation. As a result, schools were closed down, along with the Church of the Nativity. Tourist buses were turned away, and for the time being, residents have been asked to maintain a general 14-day quarantine. No one is allowed in to the city, and residents are asked not to leave, in order to prevent the spread of the illness.
Palestinian Authority security forces wearing gloves and masks maintained their posts around the hotel throughout the weekend, as they have since Thursday.