Lebanon to go into four-day closure to prevent Coronavirus spread

Lebanon’s government has ordered a full shutdown of the country for four days amid an increase in new cases of infection with the new coronavirus.

“The lockdown is set to begin at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) on Wednesday and will end at 5 a.m. on Monday, with the exemption of health, agricultural, industrial and foodstuff institutions,” Information Minister Manal Abdul Samad said during a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda.

She added that citizens are required to stay home and only leave when absolutely necessary during the four-day shutdown.

Abdul Samad also said a decision on the return of ex-pats would be made during a meeting later in the day, as a large number of Lebanese returning home from abroad on organized flights have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past days.

She highlighted that the four-day closure would also allow teams from the Health Ministry to conduct more random tests and trace transmissions.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohammad Fahmi also said a reassessment of the country’s situation will be made on Sunday night before the lockdown ends the next morning.

Last month, Lebanon succeeded in flattening the number of new COVID-19 cases into single digits, but the two-digit daily cases in recent days have sparked fears of a new wave of the outbreak in the country.

Addressing the cabinet session, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said: “the government achieved important success in facing the challenge of corona [virus] for about two-and-half months.”

“This achievement is at risk of collapsing” unfortunately due to the relaxed approach is taken in some areas, and because some people did not comply with the guidelines, he noted.

For his part, President Michel Aoun said it was necessary to re-evaluate and strengthen coronavirus prevention measures.

Aoun then called on all Lebanese nationals to “abide by what is asked of them, in order to avoid legal action” against them.

Lebanon registered 11 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the total number to 870. Coronavirus has so far claimed 26 lives in Lebanon and 234 patients have recovered.

The pandemic has compounded woes in Lebanon in the wake of a dire economic situation. The Lebanese pound has lost more than half of its value since October last year, causing food and essential goods prices to soar.