Governor of Salfit, Abdallah Kmeil, ordered today a temporary lockdown of Qarawat Bani Hassan town, northwest of Salfit city, over fears of the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Kmeil ordered the villagers to stay at homes indefinitely until paramedics complete testing the samples for 250 suspected COVID-19 cases in the town.
He elaborated that 250 villagers were suspected of contracting the virus after being in contact with a villager who was confirmed as a COVID-19 case.
The confirmed case contracted the virus while in Pakistan a week ago before returning to his hometown of Qarawat Bani Hassan.
Meanwhile, Kmeil issued a decision closing all cafes, beauty salons, barbershops and other facilities and ordering the villagers to suspend all gatherings to fend off the spread of the deadly virus.
He also ordered a shopping mall located at the entrance of the town be shuttered for 30 days and the mall owner be prosecuted after the latter failed to abide by rules when he allowed settlers to shop there.
Yesterday, Kmeil issued another decision ordering the town’s residents not to come with contact with settlers and not to allow settlers to enter any store in the town as a precautionary measure to eliminate the chances of transmitting the virus from Israeli colonial settlements to the town.
