Lebanon Registers 1,027 New Covid-19 Cases, One Death

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon confirmed a record 1,027 coronavirus cases and one death Thursday, as the academic year was postponed due to the worrying spike in cases.

Of the new cases 1,006 were registered among the local population and 21 among travelers from abroad, raising the total number of registered cases to 32,805.

There has been a total of 329 deaths due to coronavirus complications since the illness was first detected on February 21.

The local test positivity stood at 9.1 percent, with positive cases detected among 11,983 PCR tests carried out on the resident population in the last 24 hours.

Lebanon in September has so far seen four record-breaking days in the number of new infections, with the highest daily cases registered Thursday and 1,006 cases on September 20. The cash-strapped country, whose coronavirus hospital wards are nearly at full capacity, surpassed 30,000 total cases Tuesday.

As the surge in cases continued at an alarming rate, caretaker Education Minister Tarek Majzoub announced Thursday that both private and public schools would be closed for physical classes until Oct. 12, except for students in Grades 9 and 12.