BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanese authorities on Thursday began implementing a nationwide shutdown of 11 days and around the clock, in hopes of curbing the spread of coronavirus infections that are out of action after the holiday season.
For the first time, residents had to request a one-hour permit to leave the home for ‘emergencies’, including going to the bakery, pharmacist, doctor, hospital or airport.
Authorities came under pressure to take a stricter approach after the country’s hospitals ran out of beds with daily infections peaking at 5,440 cases in the country of nearly 6 million people last week.
The dramatic increase in infections began in late December. As most governments around the world tightened lockouts, Lebanon relaxed its health measures during the holidays, allowing restaurants and nightclubs to reopen, with hardly any restrictions. An estimated 80,000 expats flocked back to the country to celebrate Christmas and New Year with loved ones, many of them expats who visited in the summer due to the devastating explosion on August 4 in the Beirut port.
‘The holiday season had to be the time for lock-up. The season of crowds, shopping and parties, ”said Hanna Azar, owner of a currency exchange and telephone shop. ‘They opened it up to allow dollars into the country and now they want to close, especially in this economic crisis. People do not have money to eat. ”
Even before the coronavirus, Lebanon went through an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that caused its national currency and banking sector to collapse, shutting down deposits beyond savings. Hospitals, long regarded as one of the best in the Middle East, have struggled to pay staff, keep equipment running and secure the necessary medical supplies as dollars have become scarce.
Amid the boom, many hospitals have now reached the maximum capacity for patients with coronavirus. Some have stopped elective surgery when they run out of beds, oxygen tanks and fans.
Furthermore, the country has been without a government since the old one resigned following the catastrophic explosion on August 4 in the Beirut port, which further stressed hospitals and flooded them with injured. At least three hospitals were destroyed.
The massive explosion caused by the explosion of a stockpile of bad ammonium nitrate devastated the city, killing more than 200 people and injuring thousands.
On Thursday, police manned checkpoints across the country, checked motorists’ permission to be on the road and in some cases caused traffic jams. The curfew rule is the strictest since the start of the pandemic. For the first time, even supermarkets have been told to close their doors and only open for delivery. That decision sparked three days of chaotic panic shopping when concerned citizens emptied shelves at supermarkets and grocery stores.
Lebanon just announced a nationwide exclusion last week. But many, including the Minister of Health and officials in a government committee, considered it too soft because it freed up many sectors. In some parts of the country, it was business as usual, which led to more calls for a full closing and evening clock.