Lebanon will undergo a full lockdown from November 14 until November 29, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced on Tuesday, to contain the spread of the coronavirus after the number of cases reached a critical point. Mr Diab urged the public to comply with safety measures and cautioned that the lockdown could be extended if they failed to do so. "If the Lebanese people abide by the measures, and we succeed in containing the virus by registering low numbers, then we have saved the people," Mr Diab said. “Without medical prevention, livelihoods are not guaranteed,” he said, acknowledging the struggles that the public faces from Lebanon’s worsening and crippling economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus. Earlier this month Lebanese MP Assem Araji told <em>The National</em> that the country needed a two-week lockdown to set up new ICU beds. "Between 90 and 95 per cent of intensive care unit beds for coronavirus patients are full," Mr Araji told <em>The National.</em> Overcrowded hospitals spark the fear that people in critical condition will be unable to get the medical attention that they need, Mr Diab said. “We fear, in light of this lack of hospital capacity, that we reach a stage where people are dying on the streets”. Mr Diab said the country managed to overcome the “first wave” of the pandemic largely due to public compliance with safety measures. “The Beirut explosion made these precautionary measures crumble and resulted in a loss of control over the disease,” he said. Mr Diab said the government requested that Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces reinforce the lockdown in all areas with the exception of hospitals and vital locations, which he did not specify.
