Lebanon has seen a surge in coronavirus cases, less than two weeks after it virtually ended its lockdown.
Early in the pandemic, the eastern Mediterranean country took aggressive measures to stem the spread of the virus.
It has had 36 deaths from Covid-19 since the first reported case in February.
But less than two weeks after the capital’s airport reopened, infections have risen rapidly. Yesterday the country reported 166 new cases — a record high for the country.
In interviews with local television stations, Health Minister Hamad Hassan said 122 of those cases were from an unnamed cleaning company, adding that the government would continue to contain cluster breakouts, and would avoid stepping up lockdown measures.
“Our admitting capacities in government hospitals are acceptable and the departments are ready,” Hassan told local television channel LBCI on Sunday, according to the state-run National News Agency. “Despite the high number of coronavirus cases, matters are still within the set plan,” he added.
Economic fears: Officials in Lebanon, which is in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades, have also been keen to avoid a lockdown.
Late last month, the country’s currency lost most of its value, but it began to rise again, days after the reopening of Beirut’s international airport.
Healthcare workers’ warning: Healthcare workers say the situation could take a dangerous turn. Hospitals — already grappling with long power cuts and medicinal shortages — may buckle under the strain of a growing caseload, doctors say.
“Two days (ago) we had … almost 20 hours of power cuts a day, and that was very brutal on us because it consumed a large chunk of our stored fuel,” said Firass Abiad, head of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where the majority of Beirut’s coronavirus cases are treated.
Abiad told CNN’s Ben Wedeman he expects the situation to become “more difficult,” in the days and weeks to come. “Whether we will be able to keep finding solutions … I do not know.”