Lebanon has registered a gradual decline in COVID-19 infections in the past few days as it continues its vaccination drive.
On Monday, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said the campaign has yielded “good results,” adding that the percentage of daily positive PCR tests has decreased from 21 to 15 percent.
“These are very good figures that we can build on to encourage more people to register and get vaccinated,” he added
Hassan stressed on the importance of respecting precautionary measures to achieve a further decrease in daily infections, particularly with the coming summer season when a large number of expatriates are expected to visit Lebanon.
The Minister said that 2.1 million people have already registered to get vaccinated.
“Until the end of June, Lebanon is expected to receive 1.3 million Pfizer vaccine doses and another 1.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca covering all residents registered on the official platform to receive the jab,” Hassan said.
Meanwhile, Firass Abiad, general manager of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, warned of a spike in cases with the advent of the holy month of Ramadan as people are expected to gather at homes, restaurants or places of worship.
Abiad said that some people will observe the restrictions, “although as we now know, more contagious virus variants circulating through the air render many of the old measures less effective.”
“With 2,000 new cases reported daily and many more flying in, the virus will surely spread further,” he warned.
As of Monday night, Lebanon imposed a nightly curfew for the duration of Ramadan when nonessential movement is prohibited.
Restaurants are permitted to operate at 50 percent capacity during the day while food delivery is allowed during curfew hours. Places of worship are limited to operating at 30 percent capacity and group iftar meals have been prohibited.
