Around Half of Lebanon’s Newly Detected Virus Cases Are Delta Variant

By Staff, Agencies

Nearly half of Lebanon's recorded coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours were identified as the Delta variant, the Health Ministry reported Monday.

Among 101 new cases, 46 were detected as the Delta variant imported from 10 different countries, the Health Ministry said without specifying which countries. Two deaths from the virus were also registered in the last 24 hours.

The new cases were detected from 12,962 tests, resulting in a 1.6 percent two-week average positivity rate, rising 0.1 percent from last week's figure. The low number of tests conducted is attributed to many laboratories not operating Sundays.

The total number of cases now sits at 545,671 alongside 7,863 deaths since the virus was first detected in the country in February 2020.

According to the report, 104 patients are in hospital with the virus, with 45 in intensive care and 13 on ventilators as of Monday.

No vaccinations were reported as centers close over the weekend. This week residents aged between 30 are 49 are invited to walk-in appointments at centers administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, the Lebanese Vaccine Executive committee announced last week.

Additionally, those aged 50 and over are welcomed to walk-in appointments at Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine centers. A full list of the accredited centers can be found on the Health Ministry's website, and residents are asked to bring their registration ID.

The increase in cases of the Delta variant will be met with concern from the country's health sector, as the variant is estimated to be twice as contagious as the original version of coronavirus.

First identified in India in October 2020, the variant has now been found in 98 countries across the globe and is causing a surge in infections even in places with high vaccination levels in the population.

However, recent health data from the UK, where the Delta variant has taken a hold, has demonstrated that vaccines remain over 90 percent effective at preventing hospitalization and death from the Delta variant.