8,416 new cases recorded in just three weeks, 61.5% of total infections detected in the country
Lebanon has seen an “explosion” in Covid-19 transmissions since the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, further straining the country’s health systems.
On Tuesday, 532 new cases were reported in the country. The total caseload in Lebanon stands at 13,687 since February 21, including 138 deaths – 12 of which reported on Tuesday – and 3,815 recoveries.
As of yesterday, the total number of hospitalised patients is 270, with 73 in intensive care units, 9,468 in home isolation.
By comparison, only 1,788 cases were registered in four months between February 21 and July 1, the day Beirut International Airport resumed flights, and precautionary measures relaxed.
Between July 1 and August 4 – the day of explosion – the total infections surged to 5,271 Covid-19 cases, then to 13,687 cases as of August 25, that means 8,416 new cases in just three weeks, a 61.5 percent of total infections recorded to date.
Caretaker health minister Hamad Hassan said: “We are all facing a real challenge and the numbers that were recorded in the last period are shocking. The matter requires decisive measures. Intensive care beds at state and private hospitals were now full.”
The August 4 explosion killed at least 180 people, injured some 6,500 and damaged swathes of the capital, leaving some 300,000 without habitable housing. Hospitals, many of which were damaged and their staff injured, were flooded with wounded.
Poor households, refugees and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable as they have less resources to reconstruct damaged shelters and buy food and essential items. These groups also often live in densely populated neighbourhoods with limited access to services.
According to the Lebanese Red Cross, the highest numbers of households reporting ten or more people staying under the same roof were in Mdaouar, Achrafieh and Quarantina.
To confront the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Lebanon started a two-week lockdown last Friday, a decision criticised by private sector businessmen who are facing a double crisis – an economic free fall and the explosion that destroyed many businesses in the capital.
