Lebanon approves law to import vaccines as coronavirus hits new record

Lebanon approves law to import vaccines as coronavirus hits new record

BEIRUT: Lebanon's parliament approved a draft law allowing imports of coronavirus vaccines as the tiny nation hit a new record in case numbers Friday and more hospitals reported they were at full capacity.

The new daily toll of 6,154 cases and 44 deaths came on the second day of a nationwide 11-day curfew that the government and doctors hope will reign in the dramatic surge of the virus.

Lebanon, a country of about 6 million people, has witnessed a sharp increase of cases in recent weeks, after some 80,000 expatriates flew in to celebrate Christmas and New Year.

During the holiday season, restrictions were eased to encourage spending by expatriates amid a suffocating economic and financial crisis, the worst in Lebanon's modern history.

On Friday, the American University Medical Center, one of Lebanon's largest and most prestigious hospitals, said in a statement that its health care workers were overwhelmed. The hospital's ICUs and regular coronavirus units have reached full capacity and so did the emergency room, it said.

"We are unable to find beds for even the most critical patients,“ the hospital said, urging people in Lebanon to help by taking extreme precautionary measures to "overcome the catastrophe we are facing.“

Mazen El-Sayed, an associated professor in