Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh on Tuesday announced a partial ease on the lockdown restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Wafa news agency reported.
Speaking at a daily briefing at his office in Ramallah, Shtayyeh stated that the PA was entering an important phase towards a gradual and phased exit from the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
As part of the relaxation guidelines, the public would be allowed to go outside in daytime, but have to remain in house at night, and some businesses would be allowed to resume work.
The relaxation stage will see barbershops and hair saloons re-opening on Fridays and Saturdays everywhere, except for governorates infected with COVID-19, provided that the hairdressers comply with safety measures while working, including wearing masks and gloves.
It will also see construction sites reopening in all governorates, and clothing, footwear and home appliances stores reopening throughout the week in the governorates not infected with the virus and for three days in governorates infected with the virus.
Jewelry stores will be allowed to resume work on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays, while restrictions on banking will be more eased in non-infected governorates.
Under the new guidelines, public transportation will return in the non-infected governorates of Tubas, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilia, Salfit and Jericho, and private transportation between these non-infected governorates will also return.
Restrictions on public gatherings, including mosques, churches, kindergartens, nurseries, and academic institutions, will remain in place.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the PA said that six new cases of COVID-had been confirmed, including three children, bringing the total number of cases in the PA to 538.
On Monday, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas agreed to extend the state of emergency that was declared over the spread of coronavirus until June 5.
Abbas initially announced a month-long state of emergency after the first seven cases of coronavirus were identified in Bethlehem. Since then, cases were identified in other PA-controlled cities as well.
