Gaza will remain in lockdown at least until Sunday, health officials said after reporting two deaths and 26 Covid-19 cases in the first public outbreak of the coronavirus in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

As of two days ago, when the first four cases were discovered in a refugee camp in the 360 square-kilometre territory, and a 48-hour lockdown was imposed, there had been no infections outside border quarantine facilities for new arrivals.

But by late Wednesday, health officials said 26 people in several locations had tested positive for Covid-19 and two patients had died — a sign the pandemic had penetrated Gaza’s forced isolation.