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Lebanon is weighing full lockdown in fight against covid

November 10, 2020 at 11:24 am

Medical personnel treating patients suffering from coronavirus (COVID-19), in the Lebanese capital Beirut on 7 April 2020 [JOSEPH EID/AFP/ Getty Images]

After calls from several sectors, Lebanese authorities have been weighing imposing a full lockdown to fight COVID-19, Health Minister Hamad Hasan was reported saying yesterday.

A full lockdown would help hospitals increase their level of readiness to take in coronavirus patients as the number of cases has reached unprecedented levels, the official said.

“A total lockdown is a chance for hospitals to raise their level of readiness,” the Daily Star reported Hasan saying after a meeting with the committee that discusses COVID-19 crisis.

The minister said that the partial lockdown imposed on areas with a large number of cases “did not achieve the sought results.”

Meanwhile, he revealed that hospitals would receive dues owed by the state for the first six months of 2020 this week, as he contacted the Central Bank on the matter.

According to the Daily Star, Lebanese hospitals have been facing the pandemic with a myriad of financial issues resulting from the country’s economic crisis, lack of US dollars in the market and the non-payment of their state-owed dues.

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