Lebanon has just lost one of its strong heroes…
A young doctor named Louay Ismail passed away Monday afternoon at Nabih Berri Government Hospital in Nabatiyeh after having contracted the virus, reported NNA.
He was only 32-years-old and reportedly had no prior health issues.
Ismail worked in the ER of the Lebanese Italian Hospital in Tyre and apparently became infected from a patient he was intubating.
According to the state-run news agency, Ismail had symptoms of the coronavirus for the past two weeks and 3 PCR tests that confirmed he was infected.
He was quarantined for a week then transferred to the Nabih Berri Governmental Hospital four days ago to treat severe pneumonia he had developed.
“May God have mercy on the angel of Lebanese Dr. Louay Ismail who died after being infected by a patient. He gave his time and life to help others with the coronavirus,” said Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad in a tweet.
He is the first doctor in Lebanon to die from the coronavirus.
Abroad, however, several Lebanese doctors have given their lives to save others during the pandemic. A Lebanese doctor just passed away in Brussels while fighting the virus.
Although life seems back to “normal” in Lebanon, the virus is very much still alive. And the only way to honor the heroes is to be safe and take all the necessary precautions.
Unsung Heroes
Lebanese medical workers have been successfully treating hundreds of coronavirus patients since February.
Unfortunately, some of these health workers are now out of a job after AUBMC fired over 800 employees.
To top that off, the government still owes money to many hospitals across Lebanon, including RHUH and AUBMC.
As of now, there are 41 total deaths caused by the coronavirus – a small number in the face of the 2,902 total cases, however, not irrelevant.
Eye of the storm
Lebanon is currently “in the eye of the virus storm” as the Health Minister Hamad Hassan stated on Monday, warning of an impending outbreak.
A spike in new cases is becoming alarming and a newly reopened Lebanon is being threatened with going back into lockdown.
That being said, the citizens are advised to download this coronavirus tracking app from the Ministry of Health that could notify them at once if they have been exposed to the virus.
We have a dedicated coronavirus section where you can find the latest news/updates about the pandemic in Lebanon, inform yourself with WHO-verified resources, and track the number of cases in Lebanon in real-time. Click here.
