RAMALLAH, Palestine

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Sunday that most coronavirus cases in the West Bank were caused by the highly infectious Delta variant.

"The Delta variant is widely spread with more than 70% of the diagnosed cases were due to the highly contagious strain,” ministry official in the West Bank, Wesam Sbeihat, told the official Palestine Voice Radio.

Sbeihat confirmed a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the Palestinian territories in recent weeks.

He, however, said the registered cases don’t reflect the real epidemiological situation in the Palestinian territories.

Last week, the Palestinian government threatened to take “measures” against those refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccines.

Palestinian health authorities have confirmed 349,108 virus cases in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including 3,891 deaths.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara