Coronavirus: Lebanon to impose new lockdown despite economic cost

Coronavirus: Lebanon to impose new lockdown despite economic cost

Publishedduration56 minutes ago

image copyrightAFP

image captionLocal lockdowns and night-time curfews have failed to reduce the number of infections

Lebanon's government will impose a two-week lockdown from Saturday to stem a resurgence of Covid-19, even though it will exacerbate a deep economic crisis.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said a "stage of extreme danger" had been reached, with hospitals unable to admit patients in a critical condition.

Restrictions in place between March and June helped limit the initial outbreak.

But the number of new infections soared after the devastating explosion in the capital Beirut in August.

The health ministry has reported 95,355 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 732 associated deaths since the start of the pandemic.

In the past month 42,000 people have been infected and 277 have died, despite local lockdowns in dozens of towns