Lira continues to tank, hospitals hit 75 percent COVID-19 capacity, alleged free speech arrest: Everything you need to know to start your Wednesday

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The Lebanese lira continued its free fall yesterday, hitting an all-time low of LL29,000 to the dollar on the parallel market. Yesterday’s nosedive marked the fifth consecutive day on which the lira lost value, this latest plunge having begun last Thursday when Banque du Liban announced a decision to increase the withdrawal rate for so-called “Lebanese dollar,” or “lollar,” deposits in commercial banks from LL3,900 to LL8,000. Later in the day, demonstrators blocked roads in Tripoli as well as in Beirut’s Corniche al-Mazraa and in Khaldeh south of the capital to protest the rapid decline of the national currency, which has now lost more than 95 percent of its value since the onset of the financial crisis.

Hospitals are at 75 percent capacity for treating COVID-19 patients, Health Minister Firass Abiad said yesterday, as fears continue to rise about the country’s ability to cope with another surge in infections. Only 850 hospital beds are presently available for COVID-19 patients; this is in contrast to the 2,500 beds that were available in December 2020. The reduced capacity comes atop the detection, so far, of eight carriers of the Omicron variant in Lebanon — though there are an additional 16 suspected cases, Abiad said. As of yesterday, 615 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19, including 278 in intensive care. Curfew measures for those who are unvaccinated or who cannot present a negative PCR test less than 48 hours old are set to come into effect starting Dec. 17. Abiad has emphasized that these measures will be more rigorously enforced than previous COVID-19 curtailment measures.

General Security reportedly confiscated a Lebanese social media influencer’s passport at the Beirut airport on the alleged grounds that he had insulted the president. Toufic Braidi, known as Tufiluk to fans, said in an Instagram story on Monday that the incident occurred upon his arrival at the airport. He claimed he was arrested and questioned by General Security before being released. Braidi is due to appear before General Security’s Intelligence branch today for more questioning. The influencer posted a photo of the notice stapled to his passport. Braidi’s arrest is the latest in a spate of legal incidents against comedians and public figures. Last week, there were calls by FPM supporters to have activist and comedian Amani Danhach — known as Ammounz — arrested on the same accusation. She currently resides in the United Arab Emirates. Last week, General Security released NPR reporter Nada Homsi after a 24-day detention. In a tweet thread on Friday, she said she was arrested without a warrant and illegally detained. In November, Al Akhbar journalist Radwan Mortada was sentenced to 13 months in prison in absentia for allegedly insulting the military. Also in November, comedian Shaden Fakih was served with a summons to appear before the Military Court in connection to an instagram post she made in 2020. For 2021, Reporters Without Borders has ranked Lebanon No. 107 in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, a drop of five places from last year.

Lebanon’s land transport unions will again strike on Thursday to protest deteriorating living conditions. During a press conference yesterday, the unions’ head, Bassam Tlais, apologized for the disruption this would impose on people’s everyday lives. Speaking just hours after the latest fuel price hike, he protested the frequency with which the Energy Ministry increases the prices of gasoline and diesel. Thursday's protest follows a sit-in last week by transport workers, which saw them briefly block roads across Lebanon. However, the strike was short lived and caused limited traffic disruption. The strike actions come against the backdrop of the lira’s plunge in value — a descent which has rendered, as at last night, the real value of the country’s minimum monthly wage of LL675,000 just $24. In September, the state raised its daily transportation allowance for employees to LL24,000. In November, Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram signed a decree increasing it again to LL65,000 per work day.