Lebanon imposes total lockdown for 25 days

Beirut, Jan 5 (IANS) Lebanon's Covid-19 ministerial committee has approved a 25-day lockdown set to start from Thursday until February 1 in an attempt to curb the spike in the number of new cases, which increased to an unprecedented level over the past few days.

"The situation in the country has reached a very dangerous level amid the inability of hospitals to secure more beds for Covid-19 patients which necessitates the implementation of a new lockdown," Xinhua news agency quoted Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan as saying in a press conference on Monday.

All shops and restaurants will shut their doors down except for supermarkets and pharmacies, which will be allowed to remain open until 5 p.m.

The committee also approved a curfew to start from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. except doctors, nurses and journalists.

Lebanon's coronavirus caseload increased by 2,861 to 192,139, while the death toll went up by 13 to 1,512.