Lebanon COVID-19 Deaths Top 4,000, 1,739 New Infections

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon's total coronavirus fatalities topped 4,000 Monday, with 44 new deaths and 1,739 more cases in 24 hours, as the country’s inoculation drive went into full swing.

The cases were detected among 7,133 tests, with only 14 cases recorded among travelers arriving from abroad. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 19.7 percent.

The total number of cases since the virus was first detected in the country in late February 2020 rose to 340,861, according to the Health Ministry. The total number of fatalities stands at 4,037.

The Health Ministry said 2,266 patients were in hospital for COVID-19, with 941 in ICUs and 315 on ventilators.

Lebanon officially launched its national coronavirus vaccination campaign Sunday and more hospitals started to administer the jabs Monday, with front-line health workers mostly receiving it.

According to Head of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital Dr. Firass Abiad, around 1,000 people were vaccinated on the first day of the drive.

Lebanon has received one shipment of the vaccine until now, that contains around 28,500 jabs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with more shipments expected in the coming weeks.

Those over the age of 75 and health care workers are first in line to receive the vaccine in accordance with the national coronavirus vaccination plan.