Lebanon Registers 3,856 New COVID-19 Cases, 53 Deaths

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon registered 53 new coronavirus-related deaths and 3,856 more cases in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said Wednesday, as the country received its first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The cases were detected among 22,765 tests, with only 31 cases found among travelers arriving at Beirut International Airport. The average positivity rate throughout the last two weeks stood at 17.3 percent.

The total number of cases since the virus was first detected in the country on Feb. 21, 2020, rose to 448,721, according to figures released by the Health Ministry. The total number of fatalities now stands at 53.

The statistics provided by the Health Ministry also show that 2,415 patients are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 and related complications, with 991 in the ICU and 287 requiring ventilators.

The Health Ministry said 4,371 people Tuesday received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 5,471 their second. The total number of people who have received one dose is 115,927, and the total number of second dose vaccines administered since the Feb.14 inoculation stands at 54,661.

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan traveled Wednesday to Damascus to ask Syria to supply Lebanon with oxygen for hospitalized patients as the country faces a shortage. Hasan met with his Syrian counterpart Hasan al-Ghabash, and it has been reported that Lebanon will be receiving 75 tons of oxygen, enough to last three days.

Lebanon also received its first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, containing 33,600 doses.