Israel denies Palestinian prisoners tested positive for coronavirus

COVID-19 tests are being carried out at the Central Laboratory in the city of Ramallah (Issam Rimawi - Anadolu Agency)

Middle East Monitor  /  March 20, 2020

The Prisoners and Freed Prisoners Affairs Authority said yesterday that the Israeli Prisons Administration and the Israeli Ministry of Health have denied reports that four Palestinian detainees had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Speaking to Donia Al-Watan it said that its legal staff had contacted the Israeli prison administration and Arab members of the Knesset, who in turn contacted the Israeli health ministry, to confirm earlier reports claiming that four Palestinian prisoners in Megiddo prison had been infected with coronavirus.

It explained that four Palestinian prisoners had been isolated on suspicion of contracting the virus after having been in contact with an ill prisoner last week. However, they did not show any symptoms.

Section (4) in the prison has been vacated and converted in to a quarantine and medical examination area, it added.