Lebanon COVID-19 Cases Rise By 2,708 with 20 More Deaths

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon registered 20 new coronavirus-related deaths and 2,708 cases Thursday as the Health Ministry renewed calls to abide by prevention measures on Christmas Eve.

The Lebanese Health Ministry launched a PCR campaign in various areas during the holiday season, and reiterated the importance of abiding by prevention measures in anticipation of an increase in the dangerous number of daily cases.

Among the newly recorded cases, 32 were from travelers arriving from abroad, bringing the total number of cases in Lebanon to 165,933 since the virus was first detected in the country in late February. The total number of deaths now stands at 1,353.

A total of 21,277 PCR tests have been administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 13.3 percent.

The Health Ministry said that 1,034 patients were in hospital with 413 in the ICU, while 139 were on mechanical ventilation.