An ambulance carrying the first victim of cholera in Akkar on October 20, 2022 in North Lebanon. (Credit: Courtesy of Michel Hallak/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The first cholera death was recorded in Akkar Wednesday night in the governmental hospital of Halba, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region.
The victim was a 16-year-old Syrian refugee from the al-Hariq neighborhood in the town of Bebnin.
Caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad cast concern Wednesday about the cholera outbreak in Lebanon, noting a "fast spread of the disease." Despite the fact that most cases have been "among the [Syrian] refugees," there has been "an increase in the cases among the Lebanese."
During a press conference, the minister announced that Lebanon had recorded two more cholera deaths, bringing the country's death toll to five. Lebanon also recorded 80 new cholera cases between Monday and Tuesday, raising the case count to 169 since the beginning of the outbreak, the Head of the Health Ministry's Department of Preventive Medicine Atika Berri told L'Orient Today.
Abiad indicated that, upon a closer investigation, most of the death cases are attributed to the fact that the victims did not receive medical care. He asked all those who feel ill and suspect cholera to go to the hospital.
Additional reporting contributed by Michel Hallak