Lebanon Registers Record COVID-19 Deaths, But Cases Appear to Be Declining

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon registered record 81 coronavirus deaths and 2,770 further deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said Tuesday, as authorities mulled over slowly reopening the country.

The cases were detected among 19,004 tests. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 21.8 percent.

Among the newly recorded cases, only 13 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 305,842 with 3,226 deaths.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said 2,358 patients were in hospital for COVID-19, with 942 in ICUs and 345 on ventilators.

With one week left until the total lockdown ends, the ministerial coronavirus follow-up committee is discussing whether or not to extend the nationwide closure and is leaning toward introducing measures to gradually reopen the country starting Monday.

The lockdown so far has helped bring down the dangerous daily figures witnessed last month but hospital coronavirus ICUs remain at critical capacity and death rates high. The ideal decision would be to extend the lockdown, as recommended by the parliamentary Health Committee.

The final decision is set to be taken by the committee Friday. Dr. Abdel Rahman al-Bizri described the gradual reopening as the “best option” taking into account the economic and social reality of the crisis-stricken country.