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Health sector experts warned on Saturday that Lebanon is heading for a “catastrophic” health situation after the significant increase in the number of “Covid-19” cases during the holidays, while hospitals are close to reaching their maximum capacity.
Petra Khoury, interim adviser for health affairs, told the French Press Agency that the National Committee to Fight “Covid-19” would meet during the day to issue a recommendation to the authorities to impose a new blockade on the country. for three weeks.
Lebanon has witnessed several closures since February 2020, the most recent in November. However, the restrictions were later relaxed, leading to a significant increase in the number of injuries during the holidays.
On Thursday, Lebanon registered more than 3,500 new cases of “Covid-19”, the highest daily figure. The total number of injured has reached 183,888 so far, according to the official number, out of a population of about six million, including some 1.5 million refugees.
On Saturday, the head of the Union of Private Hospital Owners, Suleiman Haroun, spoke of a “catastrophic” situation and said that the 50 private hospitals in Lebanon receiving “Covid-19” patients are “almost full”.
He explained that these hospitals allocate 850 beds for injured patients, including 300 in intensive care, and said patients are queuing at the emergency room, hoping to secure a bed.
For her part, Petra Khoury said: “The problem is that when a patient enters the intensive care unit, they stay there for three weeks,” which delays the possibility of admitting other patients.
He added that the social gatherings and special parties that were organized at Christmas and New Years contributed greatly to the increase in the number of injured, explaining that they constituted more than 70% of the positive cases registered in recent days.
He added that intensive care units in Beirut hospitals are now more than 90% full.
Pending a decision by the authorities on the possibility of imposing a new closure, the Lebanese Red Cross expressed its fear of the worst.
Lebanese Red Cross Secretary General George Kittana said: “Many hospitals in Beirut have asked us not to transfer patients to them. Therefore, we are transferring them to hospitals in Bekaa (east) and Nabatiyeh (south) ”.
In addition to the dangerous health crisis, Lebanon is suffering the worst economic crisis, which has led to an increase in poverty at a rate twice as high, according to the United Nations.
In February, Lebanon will receive the first shipment of vaccines against “Covid-19”. (AFP)
