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Beirut (AFP)
Lebanon begins, starting Monday, to relax the closure measures imposed two weeks ago after the increase in infections with the new Corona virus, in an attempt to reactivate its faltering economy during the holidays, according to officials.
Health Minister Hamad Hassan told reporters that the country will adopt a “gradual conquest, starting Monday tomorrow,” to allow people to breathe economically.
He added that restaurants will open their doors at 50 percent occupancy, but bars and clubs will remain closed and weddings are prohibited, while the nightly curfew starts from 11:00 p.m. instead of 5:00 p.m. 5:00 in the morning.
Hassan added, after the Lebanese Crown Committee meeting, that schools will also reopen their doors, but with the adoption of coeducation, so that some lessons will be given at a distance.
The Minister of Health warned that the “risk” of high infections still exists, and the results of the closure will appear next week, hoping that they will be less dangerous.
He noted that before the shutdown, “the intensive care bed occupancy rate for Corona ranged from 80 to 90 percent, but today we have reached 65 to 70 percent.”
He noted that “we must allow people to gradually return to the economy, and after a week we will evaluate indicators of the outbreak and response.”
Since February, the country has recorded more than 125,000 injuries, including 1,000 deaths.
Lebanon, which has a population of about 6 million, had recorded about 11,000 coronavirus cases a week before mid-November, according to figures from the Health Ministry.
The first national lockdown imposed in March succeeded in curbing the spread of the virus, before restrictions were gradually lifted in early summer.
But the number of cases increased in the wake of the Beirut port bomb attack on August 4, which killed more than 200 people and injured at least 6,500.
The explosion and the epidemic have exacerbated tensions in the country, which is facing the worst economic crisis in its recent history.
© 2020 AFP
