Lebanon COVID-19 Deaths Top 3k

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon's coronavirus-related tally topped 3,000 Saturday, as the country registered 61 coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours, in addition to 2,631 new cases.

Lebanon witnessed a surge in daily virus deaths last week which has continued into this week, with a then-new record of 76 deaths registered Wednesday. The overall number of coronavirus-related deaths since February now stands at 3,031.

The cases were detected among 14,108 PCR tests, a Health Ministry report said. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 21.8 percent.

Among the newly recorded cases, only two were detected among travelers arriving in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry report, with the total number of cases since the virus was detected in the country in late February rising to 298,913.

The Health Ministry said 2,402 patients were in hospital for COVID-19, with 955 in ICUs and 342 on ventilators.

Head of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital Dr. Firass Abiad Saturday revealed that frontline health workers have concerns and doubts on taking the coronavirus vaccine, a fact he came to know after a survey was conducted at his hospital to find out what the attitudes surrounding the vaccine are.

More than 700 health care workers took the survey. Twelve percent said they will decline to take the coronavirus vaccine. However, Abiad noted that another 49 percent were still undecided. Around 79 percent of the health care workers who participated in the survey work in direct contact with coronavirus patients.

Abiad said that the primary concern raised by many of the participants was the side effects of the vaccine.

These figures are cause for concern on public attitudes against the vaccine, and will be an impediment for the vaccine rollout and the state’s target of vaccinating 80 percent of the population by year-end.

“If frontline health care workers have concerns about the vaccine, so too has the public. If not addressed, these concerns will impede the vaccination drive. An incessant public awareness campaign is much needed, and cannot start soon enough,” Abiad said in a series of tweets.

Abiad added that his hospital will launch an awareness campaign Monday, in addition to a website with the aim of increasing public awareness on the matter.

Lebanon is set to receive its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine containing around 50,000 jabs from Pfizer-BioNTech on Feb. 8.