Lebanon Registers 55 New COVID Deaths, 2,723 More Cases

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon registered 55 new coronavirus-related deaths and 2,723 more cases Tuesday, as the dangerous spread of the virus shows signs of slowing down.

The cases were detected among 18,187 tests, with only 10 cases recorded among travelers arriving from abroad. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 19.7 percent.

The positivity rate, previously at 22 percent, has been slowly declining in the past week.

The total number of cases since the virus was first detected in the country in late February 2020 rose to 343,584, according to the Health Ministry. The total number of fatalities stands at 4,092.

The Health Ministry said 2,293 patients were in hospital for COVID-19, with 952 in ICUs and 314 on ventilators.

Lebanon officially launched its national coronavirus vaccination campaign Sunday and more hospitals started to administer the jabs at the start of the week, with front-line health workers receiving it at this stage, according to a Health Ministry official.

The ministry official added that no appointments to receive the vaccine have yet been scheduled for those over the age of 75, who along with health workers are first in line to receive the life-saving jabs.

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

More shipments are set to arrive every week and more hospitals will start to receive and administer the vaccine.