Eleven new coronavirus cases and one recorded casualty in Lebanon

BEIRUT: Lebanon recorded its first Coronavirus casualty and 11 new cases on Tuesday.

202 suspected cases underwent the necessary laboratory examinations on Tuesday, of which 11 tested positive for the virus, raising the total local Coronavirus tally to 52, said the General Manager of Rafic Hariri University Hospital Dr. Firass Abiad. 

As for the first recorded death from the COVID-19 in Lebanon, the deceased, 56, was a Lebanese patient who recently came from Egypt.

When symptomatic of the coronavirus, he was transferred from the Notre Dame De Secours hospital in Jbeil to RHUH.

As Abiad explained, the patient arrived at RHUH in critical condition and suffering from acute pulmonary inflammation.

“The patient was subjected to complications, which are hypotension and high temperature, which led to his heart stopping and eventual death,” he added.

According to Abiad, with the increase in Coronavirus cases, the RHUH is working on raising its capacity by adding a dozen more beds within the coming three days.

However, in terms of conducting tests on suspected patients, RHUH is approaching its maximum capacity.

For that reason, and to contain the outbreak, the Ministry of Public Health announced on Tuesday that new laboratories will be accredited to carry out coronavirus tests on suspected patients.

The newly accredited laboratories are: The American University of Beirut Medical Center, The Saint George Hospital, The Rizk Hospital (Lebanese American University Medical Center); INSERT INTO articles (articleId, timestamp, date, title, teaser, slug, status, primaryCategory, description, authorId, sourceId, url, lastUpdate, hasImage, contents, summary) VALUES and Hotel Dieu Hospital.

The ministry highlighted that any other hospital or private laboratory willing to conduct these tests must submit an application for a specialized committee to study. If the laboratory meets the requirements, it will get approved by the ministry to start patients’ examinations. The tariff will amount to a maximum of 150,000 LBP.

Additionally, with the closure of most educational, industrial, and recreational facilities in Lebanon for more than a week, the municipality of Beirut indicated in a Tuesday statement that the city’s public parks will also temporarily shut down as a preventive measure against the spread of the disease.

Similarly, the Minister of Culture and Agriculture Abbas Mortada, announced that the national museum and the archeological galleries affiliated to the Ministry of Culture will also be shut down until further notice.

The very first registered coronavirus patient in Lebanon is said to be on her road to recovery, as she is no longer showing symptoms.