Almost saturated hospitals. Faced with the influx of patients with the new coronavirus, and after the devastating explosion in the Lebanese capital, hospitals in Beirut are "on the brink", assured the resigning Minister of Health Hamad Hassan on Monday.
In recent weeks, Lebanon has seen an increase in infections with the new coronavirus. The country recorded a record of contamination with 439 new patients on Sunday, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases to 8,881 since the start of the epidemic in Lebanon at the end of February, including 103 deaths.
Four hospitals shut down after the explosion
Four hospitals in the capital that were hosting Covid-19 cases are "out of service" after the deadly explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4 that devastated entire neighborhoods of the capital. The explosion was caused by a fire in a warehouse where, according to the authorities, 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored for years.
"The public and private hospitals of the capital find themselves with a very limited reception capacity, whether in terms of beds in intensive care units or ventilators," Minister Hamad Hassan warned at a press conference.
"We are on the brink, we do not have the luxury to take our time," he warned, pleading for a new two-week lockdown to curb the spread of the epidemic.
Provisional reconfinement canceled
The government had decreed a provisional containment, canceled after the devastating explosion that left more than 177 dead and 6,500 injured. The chaotic situation after the explosion makes it difficult to establish containment or comply with precautionary measures, warned Hamad Hassan.
"Our ability to control behavior in the face of the virus is more limited," he acknowledged, citing in particular "the movement of families to hospitals to look for the wounded or missing" and the mobilization in the street, where dozens volunteers cleared the rubble daily.
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