RAMALLAH, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- A senior Palestinian official warned on Monday of an increase in death cases and infections in Palestine if citizens don't abide by public safety and precautionary measures.

Mai al-Kaila, Palestinian Minister of Health, told reporters in a news briefing in Ramallah that the government may get back to the choice of imposing a lockdown at any moment in the light of recording high number of cases.

"Abiding by the public safety and the precautionary measures, mainly wearing facemasks and gloves and also keeping social distancing, would reduce the number of COVID-19 infections," al-Kaila said.

She added that the health ministry works on ensuring the needed supplies for detecting coronavirus through contacting friendly countries and the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said in a press statement that it recorded three deaths, 456 new COVID-19 cases and 358 recoveries in the last 24 hours in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The statement added that the rate of recovery in Palestine reached 61.3 percent.

"Since March 5, the health ministry has recorded 22,391 COVID-19 cases in the Palestinian territories, including 124 deaths, 13,716 recoveries and 8,551 active cases," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Monday that it recorded eight new COVID-19 cases.