President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, received Health Minister, Hamad Hassan and World Health Organization Representative, Iman Al-Shanqiti, today at the Presidential Palace.
President Aoun discussed, with Hassan and Al-Shanqiti, the results of the measures that Lebanon is taking to confront Corona, and the next stage that will include taking additional samples from various regions which would contribute to providing a clearer picture of the reality of the pandemic in Lebanon.
After the meeting which was attended by the President’s health and social adviser, former MP Walid Khoury, Minister Hassan said “We were honored to visit the President, and we discussed the reality of Corona Virus, in the presence of Dr. Iman Al-Shanqiti. We put his Excellency in the atmosphere of the procedures which the Health Ministry is taking, especially in terms of expanding the set of tests conducted on all Lebanese territories, so that in the next stage we can make a careful evaluation, especially in terms of public mobilization and the subsequent steps to be taken. At the meantime, we presented the list of countries which provide support to Lebanon and the Health Ministry, specifically within the existing campaign to raise PCR examinations to two thousand exams daily with a thankful contribution from the brotherly State of Kuwait”.
“We have 15 days remaining till next 10th of May, in order to raise the number of laboratory tests to reach the general international average of 15,000 exams per million people, and we will reach this number and then the picture becomes clear to take immediate action based on field data” Hassan stated.
Then, Dr. Al-Shanqiti said “I thank His Excellency, the President, for his continuous support to us, as well as the Health Minister. I would like to confirm that we, as a global health organization, are working hand in hand with the Ministry, and currently that the measures taken by the Health Ministry and the Government through public mobilization and followed instructions, have helped to reach the situation which we enjoy today. I ask for more cooperation from everyone and adherence to procedures in order to complete the work together. The organization is a key partner of the Ministry, and we are continuing to support it, and there will also be support for Government hospitals, which will be announced later”.
“I would also like to thank Kuwait for its generous contribution to the health organization, which allowed us to provide the ability to conduct a hundred thousand laboratory tests, which will increase the capacity of the numerical survey to reach 15 thousand tests for every million citizens, and thus will allow us to take appropriate measures, during the next two weeks” Al-Shanqiti added.
Questions & Answers:
Minister Hassan was asked about his assessment of the goals set two months after the first Corona case appearance in Lebanon, and he answered: “This question is a summary of the previous stage, and despite all the proposals that were raised and caused media hype and fear among the Lebanese, it was found that through institutional work, we can protect society despite the weak capabilities. What has been achieved falls within the proposed plan, and what we are currently doing is to complete it, but beware of being deceived by the numbers, reaching zero cases yesterday, is not a given and decisions can be taken accordingly. It is true that we have achieved all the goals set during the past two months, and we are awaiting a second wave of expatriates from the Lebanese dispersed abroad, which is an additional responsibility, knowing that they have the right to return to their homeland and we have a responsibility to accompany them, so the public mobilization will continue. And I would like to draw attention to the anxiety, like all countries of the world, that we will be exposed to a second wave of the epidemic, when people will return to public life after the end of mobilization is lifted, there will be confusion of course. Therefore, what we are doing to increase the number of test samples in different regions, whether those infections were recorded or not, is to avoid a second wave of cases, and we work through that according to the plan and goals set by the ministry in coordination with the WHO”.
The Health Minister was then asked about the injury recorded in the Galilee camp and the fear of a greater prevalence of injuries due to overcrowding inside the camp, where he answered “Our joint responsibility as the Health Ministry and international organizations, and in particular UNRWA, in regards to Palestinian refugees, in coordination with the Health Organization, is to do the same procedures as any Lebanese injury in any region, with the same responsibility, professionalism. Today, two teams from the Ministry went to the Baalbek Governmental Hospital and to the Galilee camp, in coordination with UNRWA, to take samples and accordingly, the measures will be taken, but I wrote that at night I followed what happened, and the measures taken are correct”.
Asked about what is being said about easing the procedures, Minister Hassan said “We are continuing with public mobilization, and we have been informed by the President that the Supreme Council of Defense will be held next Friday before the Cabinet session in Baabda Palace, and mobilization is a decision that is taken by the Government as a whole and not by the ministry, Rather, to the extent that we are satisfied with the results, we are accurate and reckoning that we will not be exposed to a second wave of the epidemic, otherwise we risked everything that had been achieved and wagered on something difficult to control. With the community, through trust, transparency and existing cooperation, we must continue the march to reach the right place”.
Dr. Al-Shanqiti was asked about the latest medical attempts to combat Corona, and her opinion about the desire shown by some countries of the world to lift procedures and measures taken, where she said “There is a lot of talk about medicines and vaccines against Corona, and so far we do not have any proven data about it. I confirm that Lebanon has entered into the existing global clinical trials as part of a campaign of drug trials being tested”.
As for easing procedures, I ask people to give us some time as well, because any easing currently in an ill-conceived manner can turn things against us. Therefore what is required is more patience, knowing the difficulty of the economic situation and the ability of people to coexist with the current circumstances, but we have, as His Excellency the Minister said, to deal with the current numbers with great caution and it cannot be said that we have overcome the danger, we are still observing and we must exercise caution in all what we do. And if there is a decision to lift the procedures, it must be done in a deliberate and gradual manner, but as a representative of the WHO I advise to continue for the next two weeks, but it is up to the local authorities to take this decision”.
Source: NNA
