Less than a week after exceeding 1,000 daily coronavirus (COVID-19) cases for the first time, Lebanon broke its record for the highest daily case number again on Friday, September 23rd.
The Ministry of Public Health announced that 1,143 new COVID-19 cases had been recorded in the preceding 24 hours.
1,132 of the new cases were among the resident population while the remaining 11 were travelers that had arrived in Lebanon. The Health Ministry recorded 4 new deaths related to the virus on the same day.
With that, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 33,962. Of those, 333 passed away and 14,778 have fully recovered, which means that there are currently 18,851 active cases in the country.
In September alone, Lebanon has broken 5 times its daily COVID-19 record, including this time, as infection cases gradually increase over time.
This alarming soar in infection cases prompted caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan to call for a new 2-week total lockdown to control the rapid spread of the virus.
The alarming health situation also delayed the reopening of schools until October.
In Dawhet Aramoun in Mount Lebanon, the sharp increase in local cases prompted its Governor, Judge Mohammad Al-Makkawi, to order the isolation of the village for a full week.
In a similar occurrence, the village of Qoubaiyat in Akkar District announced its adherence to a 10-day lockdown starting Friday, following the spike in cases and the lack of agreement in the government over imposing a new lockdown.
The mayor of Qoubaiyat said that the lockdown, which bans all kinds of gatherings, celebrations, and events, “even in homes,” would end on October 4th.
Caretaker Minister Hamad Hasan’s proposition of a nationwide lockdown has been met with apparent discontent from caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Fehmi and has not been implemented as of yet.
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