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On Saturday, November 14, 2020, procedures for a New Year’s closure in Lebanon began in the early morning to cope with the high number of new coronavirus cases and to increase the preparedness of the health sector after hospitals reached its maximum capacity.
On Friday evening, Acting Prime Minister Hassan Diab appealed to citizens to adhere to lockdown procedures and preventive rules, after the government had managed to contain the first wave through an early blanket shutdown, but the country recently recorded record rates of infection despite the isolation of dozens of towns and villages.
The number of new infections with the new Corona virus surpassed 100,000 and reached 102,607 cases, including 796 deaths. According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Lebanon, which has a population of around 6 million, registers around 11,000 injuries on a weekly average.
The general closure will last until the end of the current month, with the possibility of extending it if necessary. It will be accompanied by a curfew from five in the afternoon to five in the morning, and curfews will be prohibited on Sundays. Likewise, the Ministry of the Interior regulated the circulation of cars according to their license plates, so it is not possible to drive more than three days a week.
The closure decision does not include the Beirut airport, nor does it include exceptions for health and vital sectors.
And an AFP photographer reported that the main streets of the capital were almost deserted, amid the establishment of security barriers in various places to detain offenders, while the “Corniche” of the maritime city seemed empty of its daily visitors .
On the eve of the shutdown, Diab said the goal is to “prevent a health breakdown in our society and protect ourselves and our people,” noting that “the shutdown itself is not a solution, it is an opportunity to elevate the sanitary preparation of the country “.
“All the measures taken by the state will not help if the Lebanese do not adhere to the use of masks, sterilization and social distancing,” he added.
Officials fear the collapse of the health system, especially with the high number of injuries among medical staff and their inability to receive new patients, especially when intensive care beds are full.
Saeed Al-Asmar, intensive care and pulmonary doctor at the Rafic Hariri Government Hospital, warned of the seriousness of the health situation. “We are at the height,” he told AFP, “the situation is critical and is getting worse.”
He added: “There is an increase in the number of injured due to the shortage of beds, and there are patients who need extreme care and must be left in the emergency room,” explaining that “the general closure, despite difficult economic conditions, helps us and It relaxes the medical sector and gives it a little time (…) to prepare more. “
The growing spread of the virus comes at a time when Lebanon is witnessing its worst economic crisis, which has doubled poverty rates, prompting economic bodies to oppose closure restrictions.
Diab said, “Lebanon is like all countries in the world, the comparison between the economy and our health and our lives, and I personally choose life. Health is a priority over the economy.”
As part of Lebanon’s support to bear the brunt of the response to the epidemic, two planes carrying medical equipment provided by the State of Qatar arrived in Beirut on Thursday to equip two field hospitals in Tire (in the south) and Tripoli ( in the north), each with a capacity of 500 beds, as announced by the Qatari Embassy in Beirut.
