Lebanon Reports Record Number of Coronavirus Cases, 13 Related Deaths

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon registered Wednesday a record 2,878 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, as well as 13 more related deaths as the country prepared for the worst after the holiday season.

Among the newly recorded cases, 22 were from people traveling to Lebanon, bringing the total number of cases since the virus was first detected in late February to 177,996. The total number of deaths now stands at 1,443.

Lebanon's previous highest number of cases in a single day was recorded on December 6 with 2,816.

A total of 21,700 PCR tests have been administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 13.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the head of the Beirut Doctors Syndicate Sharaf Abu Sharaf expressed his concern regarding the increasing number of cases among health care personnel which will impact the health care sector’s ability to confront the virus.

“If the number of cases among doctors keeps on increasing, there will no longer be anyone to treat the infected patients,” Sharaf said during a news conference Wednesday.

According to the Health Ministry, 10 health care workers have been infected with the disease in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,975.

Describing it as the “last call,” Abu Sharaf also asked people to adhere to preventive measures and called on the government to close all restaurants and nightclubs that are not following the necessary protective virus procedures.