Lockdown Adds to Suffering of Vulnerable Lebanese, Says Charity

Lockdown Adds to Suffering of Vulnerable Lebanese, Says Charity

A total lockdown set to start this week will exacerbate the suffering of vulnerable Lebanese families struggling to make ends meet unless the government offers assistance, a charity has warned.

"We recognize the importance of taking thorough measures... but we are very concerned that vulnerable families and their children will be left to deal with a catastrophe on their own," Jennifer Moorehead, Save the Children´s Lebanon director, said late Monday.

Lebanon is grappling with its worst economic downturn since the 1975-1990 war.

A spiraling coronavirus outbreak has compounded the crisis, forcing businesses shut and denying daily wage earners an income in a country where more than half the population lives in poverty.

The Lebanese government on Monday said it would enforce a 24-hour curfew for 11 days from Thursday, after daily infections spiked by some 70 percent over the past week.

The surge in new cases is among the steepest in the world.

Under the new measures, non-essential workers will not be allowed out of the house and supermarkets will only operate delivery services.

This prompted fears of food shortages as such services are not readily available in impoverished and remote regions.

"Almost half