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How the state’s COVID-19 lockdown plan fails Lebanon’s most vulnerable

BEIRUT — As Lebanon heads into what will be — on paper at least — its strictest lockdown yet to halt the out-of-control spread of COVID-19, some are worried that the country’s most vulnerable...

Abby Sewell, 13 January 2021

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been admitted to the hospital for treatment, the Information Ministry announced. Earlier today, Hassan went into self-isolation after three members of his staff tested positive

13 January 2021

The government has launched a website, covid.pcm.gov.lb, for Lebanese to request an hourlong exemption for “emergencies” during the total lockdown that comes into effect tomorrow. Emergencies include going to the pharmacy, doctor’s office or bakery, among other things

13 January 2021

Lebanon has registered 4,988 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Thirty-five more people have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 1,740

13 January 2021

A World Bank press release states that its $246 million in emergency cash assistance will be distributed in Lebanese lira at LL6,240 to the dollar. This represents an approximately 30% drop from the real dollar value. This rate will be reviewed quarterly, the World Bank said

13 January 2021

Supermarkets and delivery services say they are unprepared to shift to delivery-only service

BEIRUT — Tomorrow Lebanon enters its most restrictive lockdown yet, shuttering for the first time all non-medical sector businesses, including greengrocers and supermarkets, for everything but home...

Rana Tabbara, 13 January 2021

Head of the Syndicate of Supermarket Owners Nabil Fahed has urged officials to reconsider lockdown measures shuttering grocery stores during the upcoming lockdown, telling the NNA that most stores lack the logistical capacity to cover delivery services

13 January 2021

The Ministry of Economy has filed a complaint with Public Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim regarding the smuggling of subsidized products, including coffee, for sale abroad for profit, a source at the ministry told L’Orient Today

13 January 2021

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called for the legislature to meet Friday at 2 p.m. to discuss the draft law on COVID-19 vaccines, which the Parliament’s health committee approved earlier today

13 January 2021

In its World Report 2021, Human Rights Watch says that Lebanese authorities’ corruption and failure to address massive crises “resulted in the country’s most drastic deterioration of rights in decades”

13 January 2021

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Norman Farrell filed an appeal with the court alleging errors of law and fact in its Aug. 18 judgment that acquitted three of the four defendants for the 2005 bombing that killed former Premier Rafik Hariri and 21 others

13 January 2021

MP Assem Araji (Future/Zahle) tells the media that Parliament’s health committee, which he heads, approved the draft law for a legal and medical framework for the import and use of COVID-19 vaccines, adding that Parliament will meet soon to vote on the proposed legislation

13 January 2021

Caretaker Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm has issued a circular instructing the judiciary to stop its work during the COVID-19 total lockdown from tomorrow until Jan. 25, with exceptions, including urgent cases of absolute necessity

13 January 2021

MP Ibrahim Kanaan (FPM/Metn) submitted to Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli the draft law for the recovery of looted funds, the NNA reports, adding the proposed law will be voted on in a parliamentary joint committee session after the COVID-19 total lockdown ends

13 January 2021

Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan is quarantining himself pending COVID-19 test results after three members of his staff tested positive for the virus, the NNA reports

13 January 2021

Dozens of activists have gathered in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Beirut to criticize lack of state support for the population amid COVID-19 restrictions. The country will enter a total lockdown tomorrow that is due to last until Jan. 25

13 January 2021

The art of playing roulette with your deposits

Let’s play a game. Say you give me $100,000 to invest any way I want, but we split the profits. I proceed to the casino and place all $100,000 on black in the roulette wheel. The wheel spins, and...

Dan AZZI, 13 January 2021

The head of the syndicate of private hospitals, Sleiman Haroun, has called for extending the COVID-19 total lockdown, currently set to start tomorrow and last until Jan. 25. He told VDL radio 93.3 that hospitals are facing mounting pressure despite boosting capacity

13 January 2021

Firass Abiad, the head of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, praised the expansion of ICU capacity for COVID-19 but cautioned it has interrupted other health care services, such as critical beds for cardiac, respiratory and other severe illnesses

13 January 2021

Vaccine vote, hunger warning, Israeli abduction: Everything you need to know to start your Wednesday

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up . Parliament’s health committee votes today on a bill authorizing the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.  The pharma giant had...

13 January 2021