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Lebanon will launch a two-week strike to contain a rise in coronavirus infections following the devastating explosion in Beirut two weeks ago.
Markets, shopping malls, gyms and swimming pools will have to close from Friday and there will be an overnight stop.
Officials reported a record 456 new cases of Covid-19 and two deaths on Monday, and 421 cases on Tuesday.
Health Minister Hamad Hassan has warned that hospitals are rapidly running out of space for new patients.
“The situation is unbearable,” he told a local radio station on Monday.
More about the explosion in Beirut
Six major hospitals and 20 clinics have suffered partial or severe structural damage as a result of the enormous explosion at the port of Beirut, which killed at least 178 people.
Those medical facilities that still function and field hospitals treat thousands of patients for trauma and burns, as well as more severely injured.
An estimated 300,000 people were also left homeless by the explosion. Many now live in damaged buildings, temporary places or shared shelters, with limited access to water and sanitation.
The disaster added to an already critical situation facing Lebanon due to a severe economic downturn affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that Lebanon has done a ‘very impressive job’ of tackling the coronavirus, which has killed at least 107 people in the country since February.
Prior to the blast, however, there was an upward trend in the daily number of new cases and the government had planned a partial lockdown to help manage hospital caseloads.
Transmission rates have since increased and are expected to increase further in the coming weeks as many people are unable to take precautionary measures, such as social distance.
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EPA
Six major hospitals and 20 clinics sustained partial or severe structural damage
The UN is concerned about the high risk of exposure to health workers due to overcrowding in hospital emergency departments; shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE); increased population vulnerability and reduced number of beds and capacity of intensive care unit.
It has said that the acquisition of community-based testing and supervision among newly displaced people is critical, as is the distribution of PPE and disinfection and hygiene supplies to vulnerable groups.
The WHO has shipped nearly 25 tonnes of PPE to Beirut and the Lebanese Ministry of Health has set up clinics to conduct Covid-19 tests in two of the areas least affected by the explosion.
Overseas medical teams have also been asked by the WHO to reuse their field hospitals to increase capacity for treatment of coronavirus patients.
