Lebanon’s coronavirus (COVID-19) case total exceeded the 100,000-mark on Thursday, a couple of days before the country goes into a new full lockdown.
1,874 new cases were recorded on Thursday, 41 of which were among travelers, according to the Health Ministry’s latest COVID-19 report.
Moreover, 12 deaths related to the virus were recorded by hospitals across the country on Thursday, whereas 837 full recoveries took place on the same day. At the time of writing, Lebanon has 100,703 confirmed infection cases, 44,222 of which are active.
So far, the Health Ministry’s data shows that 1,370,200 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Lebanon since the virus reached it in February.
At this point, the country is recording an average of 11,000 cases every week, the ministry said in a statement.
To attempt to slow down the epidemic, the Lebanese government will enforce a total lockdown – essential sectors excluded – starting Saturday.
“It’s necessary to adopt seriousness and firmness in applying the total closure so that the experience of the partial lockdown, which was predominantly superficial and did not lead to the desired results – rather, had a negative effect – would not be repeated,” caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan has stressed.
The new lockdown will last until the end of November and include a nighttime curfew and traffic regulation on the basis of even and odd license plates.
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab recently said that the August 4th Beirut Port explosion that overwhelmed Lebanon’s hospitals caused the country to lose control over the outbreak.
As the world anticipates the announcement of a proven COVID-19 vaccine, Lebanon has secured its place among the first countries that will receive the candidate vaccine being tested by an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation.
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