BEIRUT – The Lebanese authorities on Thursday began implementing a nationwide shutdown of 11 days and the evening clock shop, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections that are out of action after the holidays.
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.
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 and checked motorists’ permission to be on the road. 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.
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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.