A police officer in Antelias books a driver for violating lockdown rules yesterday. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
Lebanon set yet another record for coronavirus infections, registering 4,774 new cases yesterday. Over a three-day period, Lebanon has seen 12,560 people contract the virus, nearly overwhelming an already exhausted health care system. With a countrywide lockdown riddled with exceptions coming into effect Thursday, a number of residents in Tripoli and Saida protested against the curfew and measures targeting retail businesses amid deteriorating living conditions. In Halba and Choueifat, dozens of public transport van and bus drivers demanded clarity after the new lockdown order failed to mention whether they can work or not.
Less than 24 hours into the lockdown, Hassan Diab issued a slew of amendments to the rules. They include exemptions for those assisting in the restoration of buildings damaged in the Beirut port blast, traffic officers, NGO workers, cinema and TV production companies, and those transporting and burying the dead. The caretaker premier also excluded factories that produce medical supplies and equipment, with all other manufacturing suspended starting Monday until further notice. The newly announced lockdown measures will be re-evaluated based on a “biweekly assessment of the results on the ground,” caretaker Tourism Minister Ramzi Musharrafieh said.
Lebanon will waive legal requirements on liability in order to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine early next month, a spokesperson for the caretaker health minister said. The contract stipulates that the pharmaceutical giant cannot be held liable for potential side effects from the vaccine, contradicting Lebanese law. But the spokesperson told L’Orient Today that an exception would be granted given the vaccine’s approval by the US Food and Drug Administration and the urgency of the matter. Earlier this week, President Michel Aoun and caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab approved the proposal to sign a deal with Pfizer, which the health minister said will secure around 2 million doses.
A man died in the Bekaa town of Taalabaya yesterday after setting himself on fire. The man, a Syrian father who worked in a vegetable shop, self-immolated over increasingly difficult economic conditions and struggles to earn a decent living, our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour reported. Just a day earlier, a taxi driver, who suffers from chronic kidney problems but has no health insurance, set his car alight in southern Beirut, burning himself in the process. The living situation for hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable Lebanese and Syrians has become even more precarious over the last year as the economic crisis bites and costs of basic goods rise.
Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to give a televised speech at 8:30 p.m. this evening. The Hezbollah leader is expected to touch on the lack of progress in government formation, which is nearing five months of deadlock. Yesterday, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc called for a kick-start to negotiations to pave the way for the “creation of a government that enhances stability and confidence,” with President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri failing to come to terms more than two months after the latter’s nomination. Earlier in the day, Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai also met with Aoun in an attempt to break the stalemate. Last night, Walid Joumblatt, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, urged Hariri to resign, citing the futility of the process.