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Lebanon witnessed a second record-breaking day of new coronavirus cases Friday, registering 2,132 cases and 17 deaths, as authorities contemplated implementing a full lockdown.
Of the new cases, only five came from travelers arriving from abroad.
According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, a total of 91,328 people have now been infected with the virus since it was first detected in the country in late February. A total of 700 people have died due to virus related complications.
Friday marks the second consecutive day Lebanon confirms a record-breaking number of daily virus cases, with 2,089 cases registered Thursday.
Nearly 25 percent of the total COVID-19 cases in Lebanon have occurred in the last two weeks alone. Deaths from coronavirus complications have themselves increased by 80 percent during the same period.
As Lebanon faces an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases on the onset of the winter and flu seasons, calls for a total lockdown have been growing from government officials and health experts alike.
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan earlier Friday said that a full lockdown was a “necessary evil” that would need to be carefully evaluated before implementation.
“We must evaluate our capability to implement a full lockdown … it is a necessary evil,” Hasan said in televised remarks after meeting with the president at Baabda Palace.
He had called for a total lockdown starting Monday.
The head of Beirut’s Order of Physicians also called for a complete lockdown earlier Friday for at least two weeks to allow the country’s overwhelmed health care sector to treat coronavirus patients.
Authorities had been testing a system of localized lockdowns around the country depending on the number of cases registered. However that approach proved unsuccessful as people did not comply with the loosely implemented rules, and cases continued to surge.
Hasan also stated that this system did not lead to desired results or “encouraging data.”
As a total lockdown is discussed among authorities, the Interior Ministry Sunday extended its nightly curfew, lasting from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. without an end date in a bid to contain the dangerous spread of the virus.
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