Lebanese authorities on Sunday lengthened a nationwide night curfew and place more towns under total local lockdown, with health minister warning against “catastrophic scenario” in the battle against the pandemic.
Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammaed Fahmy ordered in a memo the increase in a nighttime curfew by four hours, asking people to stay off the streets and shops to close between 9pm local time and 5am.
115 towns and villages were ordered to be placed in total lockdown for a week because of a high positive infection rate and “high level of danger,” according to the memo.
Meanwhile, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan said that “Lebanon is before a dangerous turning point” in the battle against coronavirus, warning that “catastrophic scenario” is nearing.
The minister called on Lebanese citizens to act responsibly and abide by cautionary measures in a bid to save the society against the pandemic.
Lebanon, a country of over 5 million, has been witnessing a surge of infection cases, deaths and intensive care unit occupancy over the past weeks that brought the recorded cases to over 80,000. According to health ministry statistics, the number of recorded cases nearly doubled between September and October.
For his part, Head of the Lebanese Doctors’ Syndicate in Beirut, Sharaf Abu Sharaf, appealed to citizens to “take the current epidemiological phase we are going through with all seriousness, and to strictly apply the preventive measures required in terms of wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands.”
He also urged citizens to “refrain from exposing society to unfortunate consequences, especially that the hospitals’ capacity to absorb coronavirus patients has reached its limit, in addition to the fact that the country’s health, hospitalization and financial situation is very bad.” National News Agency reported.
Abu Sharaf reiterated the need to “practice extreme caution and alertness to pass through this difficult and critical stage with the least possible damages and cost.”
Source: Al-Manar English Website and Agencies
