Lebanon Registers 1,016 New COVID-19 Cases, 10 Deaths

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon Monday recorded 1,016 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths, as health officials said a potential vaccine was not expected to reach Lebanon until spring of next year.

Among the registered cases, 10 were from incoming travelers.

According to the Health Ministry, a total of 5,216 PCR tests have been administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 14.5 percent.

Head of the parliamentary Health Committee MP Assem Araji said to local media Monday that Lebanon would not receive a vaccine until March or April of next year.

With coronavirus cases being on the rise in recent weeks, Lebanon Saturday entered its second full lockdown since the virus was first detected in February and is set to last until Nov. 30.

Araji also said that the lockdown did not primarily aim to decrease the number of cases, but rather to ease the pressure on the weary health care system in Lebanon so it can continue its fight against the virus.

There are currently 316 people in a critical condition in Lebanon.

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan said in televised remarks Monday that the Health Ministry is ready to start paying its LL235 billion dues to Lebanese hospitals.

Hasan also said that Lebanon has already received supplies of the medicine Remdesivir, which is set to be distributed to hospitals around the country.

A total of 106,446 people have been infected with the virus since it was first detected in late February. A total of 827 people have died from coronavirus complications, according to the Health Ministry.

The Lebanese Internal Security Forces reported a total of 9,155 fines in the past three days issued to people who failed to follow lockdown measures.

However, Araji stressed that since the beginning of the lockdown people have been mostly adhering to the lockdown measures, and cases are expected to decrease if the people stay committed.