The Lebanese ministry of public health issued on Sunday its daily report in which it announced 700 new coronavirus cases, 692 of them for locals and 8 for the arrivals, raising total to 528208.
According to the report, 22 new coronavirus-related death cases were registered, which raised toll to 7324.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese authorities had decided a 3-day lockdown, which started on Saturday, to prevent any increase in the coronavirus cases during the Easter vacation.
Caretaker Public Health Minister, Dr. Hamad Hasan, announced that “the current epidemiological indicators point to progress in the direction of regaining control over the societal outbreak of the Corona pandemic.”
In a televised interview, Hasan said: “The two criteria that assess the epidemiological status are the rates of weekly incidence and death. The first was at the beginning of January in the 18th rank, and in February it descended to the 10th rank and has now risen to the 46th,” adding that “this is a good thing, but it remains insufficient because 220 infections are recorded out of every hundred thousand citizens, while the number must drop to less than 150.”
“As for the mortality rate, it decreased significantly, whereby Lebanon is now at the 31st rank, after it was ranked 6th last February, while the occupancy rate of beds allocated to Corona patients is currently at 62 percent,” he stated.
The health minister expressed his satisfaction with “the significant decline in the rate of infections and the positive examinations, as the latter decreased from 22 percent in February to 11 percent by the end of April,” noting that “the Ministry of Public Health has not stopped carrying out continuous field campaigns in the regions to monitor the infected and those who have come in contract with them.”
However, he warned against overcrowds in places of worship, as recently circulated via social media, since this could lead to a new and dangerous wave of infection.
Pointing to the ongoing vaccination process in various parts of the country, Hasan considered that if herd immunity is achieved by 50 percent in June and 60 percent in July, Lebanon will reach a safety zone that would allow many sectors to resume their activities.
Source: Al-Manar English Website