Lebanon Sees More COVID-19 Cases As It Relaxes Restrictions

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon Sunday recorded 1,275 new coronavirus cases and 10 more deaths as the Interior Ministry relaxed some restrictions designed to keep the spread in check.

Among the newly recorded cases, 33 were among travelers arriving from abroad, bringing the total number of positive cases in Lebanon to 146,520 since the virus was first detected in the country in late February. The total number of deaths now stands at 1,200.

A total of 12,027 PCR tests have been administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 12.8 percent.

The Health Ministry said there were 391 cases in the ICU with 139 on ventilators.

The Interior Ministry announced it was cutting down curfew hours by 30 minutes to 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m., allowing restaurants and supermarkets to open until10:30 p.m., and permitting pubs, cafes and nightclubs to open at 50 percent capacity.

The ministry also decided ahead of holiday celebrations that social gatherings and ceremonies be allowed in both open air and closed spaces, but requiring that only 50 percent and 25 percent respectively of the space be used and the number of attendees not exceed 100.