RAMALLAH 

Palestine on Monday confirmed 503 new cases from the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours.

In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said the virus claimed 10 lives in the occupied West Bank, including two in East Jerusalem.

Among the infections, 468 were in the West Bank, including 85 in East Jerusalem, in addition to 35 cases in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The virus death toll in Palestine rose to 353, while the total number of infections reached 49,695, and 39,386 recoveries, the health ministry said.

Worldwide, the virus has claimed more than 998,100 lives in 188 countries and regions since first emerging in Wuhan, China in December.

The US, India, Brazil and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

Over 33.13 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries surpassing 22.94 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz