Lebanon Records 1,080 COVID-19 Cases, Calls for Full Lockdown Grow

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon recorded 1,080 new COVID-19 cases and nine deaths Monday, as leading experts in the fight against the virus warn that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed and calls for a total lockdown grow.

“Without new and more strict measures, or a major expansion in beds, hospitals will be overwhelmed, resulting in a high cost in lives,” said Dr. Firass Abiad, head of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri Hospital.

Abiad stated that between Sept. 1 and Oct. 30, Lebanon had managed to increase its COVID critical beds by 85 percent, from 165 units to 306 – underpinned by a Health Ministry drive to fully operationalize the country’s private hospitals.

However, the health care system still remains under immense pressure, and critical patients increased by 178.4 percent during the same period despite the slow increase in available ICU units.

Deaths from coronavirus complications have themselves increased by 80 percent in the last two weeks alone.

Lebanese Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan called Monday for a total lockdown lasting four weeks, conceding that the localized lockdowns the country has trialed since early October “did not yield the desired results.”

Hasan told al-Manar that it was the only means of protecting a health care system that “can no longer cope” with the rapid increase in infections due to shortages in beds and equipment.

Internal Security Forces released a statement Monday stating that it was preparing to establish checkpoints and roadblocks in order to enforce the nationwide curfew that comes into effect tonight.

The curfew announced Sunday will be in place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., and there has been no indication from authorities yet as to how long it will last.

At least 83,697 people have now been infected with the virus ever since it was first detected in Lebanon in late February. A total of 672 people have also died.