West Bank schools face 10-day closure amid coronavirus surge

The Palestinian Authority has announced on Saturday a 10-day shutdown of schools across the West Bank over surging Covid-19 infections.

Mai Al-Kaila, the PA's health minister, said that remote learning will instead be used during this period, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

She also revealed there was no plan to have a complete lockdown, even as the virulent Omicron coronavirus strain spreads through the occupied Palestinian territory.

The country's health ministry reported 3,316 additional West Bank Covid infections in the last 24 hours, with 3,254 in besieged Gaza.

At least 27 people were among 95 "seriously ill", who were put on ventilators in the West Bank.

Ashraf Al-Qidra, a representative of Hamas' Gaza-based health ministry, revealed that almost half of coronavirus tests were returning positive.

He said 172 people were hospitalised with the virus in the besieged Strip, with 78 of the cases being critically or seriously unwell.

Across the Palestinian territories, authorities have been increasingly vocal in urging citizens to come forward for their vaccinations.

The unjabbed are the worst affected by Covid in Palestine, particularly the elderly, those with pre-existing illnesses and pregnant people.

Over 1.65 million Palestinians in the West Bank are inoculated, while this figure is almost 600,000 for Gaza.