Coronavirus (COVID-19) has broken into the Lebanese presidential palace and infected around 10 of its employees, MTV reported.
After FPM leader and MP Gebran Bassil announced his infection with COVID-19 on Sunday, new information surfaced regarding the spread of the virus in the official residence of President Michel Aoun.
A day prior to Bassil’s announcement, former Minister of Displaced Ghassan Atallah, who is, like the President’s son-in-law, close to Aoun, revealed news of his infection.
What followed was a series of tests among those who reside and work in Baabda Palace.
These tests revealed around 10 cases, one of whom is a high-ranking employee who is now committed to self-isolation, MTV reported.
That is in addition to employees, not to mention officers and bodyguards in the President’s security team, as well as a driver. The cases discovered in the presidential palace range from mild to more serious.
This large number of infected people in the proximity of President Aoun had him undergo a test himself, the result of which came out negative.
Reportedly, he will get a follow-up test done in the middle of this week. The president’s wife has also taken a test that came out negative.
In the meantime, the presidential palace is seeing rigorous preventive measures to mitigate the spread of the virus inside.
Last week, Lebanon broke its record for the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in a single day, when the Health Ministry announced 1,143 new cases on Friday.
The recent spike in infection cases put off the start of the school year as education officials continue to row over the Education Ministry’s handling of the educational sector during the pandemic.
