The Church of the Nativity closed after suspicion that 4 Palestinians had contracted the virus, sparking a wave of measures that included an indefinite ban on all tourists from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the closure of other places of worship in Bethlehem for two weeks.
“It affects us enormously,” Joey Canavati, manager of the 58-room Alexander Hotel in Bethlehem, told Reuters. “We will necessarily say goodbye for the next 14 days. We will be absolutely closed. “
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A total of seven Palestinians in the region underwent coronavirus testing, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
He said all seven were running in a hotel where an organization of Greek hikers took an excursion to Israel and the Palestinian territories last February. Tourists tested positive for the virus after returning to Greece.
The church, which receives around 10,000 visitors a day, closed its doors weeks before the Easter period, a very popular time for tourists visiting the city where Jesús. Se was born expects tens of thousands more people to attend the church in the Easter season.
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At Christmas, a popular time for the Church of the Nativity, he reportedly recorded the most productive number of visitors in two decades, far exceeding 1. 5 million tourists in 2018.
The virus has disrupted holy sites and places of worship throughout the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia banned pilgrimages to the holy city of Mecca, while Iran canceled Friday’s Islamic prayers in major cities. Iraq canceled Friday prayers in Karbala, where a weekly sermon is delivered on behalf of the country’s Shiite cleric.
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More than 3,740 cases have been shown across the Middle East, Iran and Italy have the highest number of deaths in China’s outdoor world.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.