Lebanon Records 1,389 COVID-19 Cases amid New Nationwide Curfew

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon recorded 1,389 new COVID-19 cases Sunday as the government ordered a new nationwide curfew alongside a lockdown of a further 115 towns and villages.

A total 643 people have now died due to virus complications ever since it was first detected in Lebanon in February. The cumulative number of infections now stands at 82,617, the majority of these cases arising just in recent months.

The Interior Ministry announced the new nightly curfew would come into effect from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. across Lebanon starting from Monday.

However, there was no indication as to when the curfew would end.

All types of social gatherings both public and private now prohibited until further notice. Restaurants and cafes will be allowed to operate at a maximum 50 percent capacity.

Lebanese authorities also ordered the localized lockdown of another 115 towns and villages to come into effect immediately from Monday morning until Nov. 9. The Education Ministry later issued its own statement Sunday announcing the closure of all schools within these municipalities.

Lebanese Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan told local media Sunday that he had contacted Prime Minister Hassan Diab a day earlier, and that they had both agreed that a lockdown decision needed to be taken at the national level.

Hassan conceded that the localized lockdowns – first trialed in early October – had so far proven ineffective in curbing the spread of the virus. He appealed to the Lebanese public’s sense of responsibility earlier Sunday, stressing that there could not be “a guard for every citizen”.