The Palestinian Authority on Thursday ordered hotels in the West Bank to stop receiving foreign tourists after four suspected cases of the coronavirus were found in the town of Bethlehem.

The two-week restriction, announced by the Palestinian Tourism Ministry, goes into effect on Friday.

Palestinian health officials said they were examining whether four hotel workers in Bethlehem had contracted the disease from tourists who stayed there.

Police surrounded the hotel, as authorities awaited the results of laboratory tests. Many tourists at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity on Thursday wore masks as they visited the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

The Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank under interim peace accords.