COVID-19 Hits Lebanon with a Record 1,933 Cases, 8 Deaths

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon for the third consecutive day Thursday recorded a record breaking number of COVID-19 cases, with 1,933 new infections and eight further deaths.

The latest figures bring the number of active cases in the country to 38,045 out of a total of 77,778 since February. There have now been 610 people who have died from COVID-related complications in the country.

The positivity rate among the local population over the past 14 days climbed higher Thursday to 12 percent, indicating the virus is spreading at a rate well above the 5 percent limit that the World Health Organization recommends for reopening. There were 16 new cases found among people traveling into Lebanon.

There were 248 out of the 288 ICU beds occupied Thursday – an occupancy rate of 86 percent.

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan meanwhile called for local lockdowns to be enforced more closely, noting while speaking at a hospital in Chtoura in Zahle that they had not been effective in containing the virus' spread.