The imposing metal gate at Checkpoint 300, the main crossing point between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, is locked shut. Abeer Salman/CNN

Rain lashed down in Bethlehem on Friday but there were few people out on the streets anyway. Main roads were deserted, shops and restaurants were closed. The huge metal gate at Checkpoint 300, the main crossing point between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, was locked shut.

Doors were closed at the Church of the Nativity, regarded as the birthplace of Jesus. And across Manger Square, the Omar Ben Khatab mosque stood empty as well; Friday prayers, the most important congregation of the week, canceled.

Mohammad Al-Azzeh sat defiant outside his shop selling gifts for tourists, a teal-colored mask protecting his mouth.

“I will try today,” he said, “but if no one comes I will have to close for a month.”

Just around the corner, in the shadow of the huge wall erected by Israel to separate it from the Palestinian territories, the shutters were down at the “Walled Off Hotel” opened by the British graffiti artist Banksy; no guests today for the chimpanzee in the concierge’s costume to welcome.

The streets of Bethlehem are deserted and the shutters are down at "The Walled Off Hotel," which lies in the shadow of the wall erected by Israel to separate it from the Palestinian territories. Abeer Salman/CNN

A couple of miles away in the neighboring town of Beit Jala, there was security tape up in front of the Angel Hotel, and Palestinian police outside wearing face masks. This is the hotel at the center of the coronavirus scare, where seven workers tested positive yesterday, in an outbreak being linked to a Greek tour group that visited last week.

Pastor Chris Bell from Fairhope, Alabama is among a group of 14 Americans who have found themselves caught up in the scare. He told CNN by phone that he and his group were two days into a tour of the Holy Land and had visited Bethlehem and Jerusalem before being told Wednesday evening that the hotel would likely be closed the following day as authorities looked into the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak.

The group was en route on to a new destination Thursday morning when they were told to turn the bus around and go back to the hotel.

Doors were closed at the Church of the Nativity, regarded as the birthplace of Jesus. Abeer Salman/CNN

Bell paid tribute to the hotel staff. “They have been amazing, they have worked so hard to take care of us,” he said, explaining that staff had cleaned out a whole floor for the group so that they could self-quarantine together. No one in the group was showing symptoms, Bell said, but there were frustrations that no one had come to the hotel yet to test them for coronavirus.

“We understand that it is an overwhelming situation for the local authorities but we are not getting any information from them,” he said.

One man who was out and about in the city was Jamil Azar, who was filling his car with gas. “People are afraid as they don’t know who has the virus and who does not,” he said. Jamil himself was not overly concerned, though, believing that an age-old elixir, available to him as a Christian, would keep him right.

“I don’t wear a mask because I don’t need it … I drink alcohol,” he said.

CNN’s Andrew Carey contributed to this report.