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Lebanon’s Health Ministry: We Have Not Reached A Dangerous Phase

People wear face masks on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon. (AFP)
People wear face masks on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon. (AFP)
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Lebanon’s Health Ministry: We Have Not Reached A Dangerous Phase

People wear face masks on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon. (AFP)
People wear face masks on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon. (AFP)

The Ministry of Public Health said that Lebanon did not reach a dangerous phase, despite the noticeable increase in the number of coronavirus infections over the past week.

Eighteen new infections were recorded on Thursday, including three among repatriated citizens, which brought the cumulative number to 1,662 cases. The ministry is currently conducting massive PCR tests in areas that have seen a high number of infections.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, sources at the Health Ministry stressed that Lebanon has not reached a dangerous point in the virus outbreak, saying: “We are still in the containment period; even if there is a slight increase in the number of cases, this does not mean that we have reached the point of danger. This is because most cases are asymptomatic, and do not require hospitalization.”

The sources pointed out that stable numbers do not mean easing preventive measures, “because negligence may lead to bad repercussions.”

Meanwhile, two neighborhoods were isolated in the area of Ghobeiri within the Baabda district, as more than 20 infections were reported. The municipality, in cooperation with the Health Ministry, conducted one hundred PCR tests and distributed antiseptic products for families in home quarantine.

Concern prevailed in the Beddawi refugee camp in northern Lebanon after four new infections were recorded. Atef Khalil, the secretary of the Palestinian factions in the north, noted that the PCR tests conducted in the camp showed that there was no spread of the virus.

“There are no coronavirus cases within the camp, except for four cases from the same family working at the Tripoli Port and living in Beddawi,” he said.

The Tripoli Port administration announced that a medical team from the Ministry of Public Health carried out PCR examinations for more than 120 workers and employees, adding all the results were negative.

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Dead or Alive? Scores Missing after Sudan Attacks

FILE PHOTO: A handout photograph, shot in January 2024, shows a woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A handout photograph, shot in January 2024, shows a woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via REUTERS
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Dead or Alive? Scores Missing after Sudan Attacks

FILE PHOTO: A handout photograph, shot in January 2024, shows a woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A handout photograph, shot in January 2024, shows a woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan. MSF/Mohamed Zakaria/Handout via REUTERS

Khadir Ali and his family managed to survive a harrowing paramilitary attack in war-torn Sudan. But by the time they got to safety, he realized that one person was missing.
"We escaped in total chaos -- there was gunfire coming from every direction," said the 47-year-old civil servant of the October 22 Rapid Support Forces attack on Rufaa in al-Jazira state.
"But once we got out of the city, we noticed my nephew wasn't with us," he said.
Mohammed, 17, suffers from a congenital skin condition and "needs special care".
The teenager is among scores of people reported missing as the RSF stages major attacks across eastern al-Jazira state after a high-ranking officer from the area defected to the army.
In retaliation, the RSF has been "killing people in their homes, in markets and on the streets, and looting property including from markets and hospitals", rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
"Six days have passed, and we know nothing about him," Ali said, speaking in New Halfa in Kassala state.
He and his family have taken refuge there after an arduous 150-kilometer (90-mile) journey.
At least 124 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the fighting in al-Jazira state over the past 10 days, according to the United Nations.
The death toll for the whole month is at least 200.
War has raged in Sudan since April 2023 between the army under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The conflict has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. More than half the population -- 25 million people -- face acute hunger.
'Entire families' missing
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that more than 119,000 people have fled from al-Jazira state amid the recent surge of violence.
Mohamed al-Obaid from al-Hajilij village in the state told AFP his story.
"So far, we've counted 170 missing from our village. Entire families are unaccounted for," he said from New Halfa, where some children arrive unaccompanied by family members.
Since February, communications networks and internet services have been almost entirely severed in the state, making it practically impossible to check on someone's whereabouts.
Activist Ali Bashir, who helps people get away from villages in eastern al-Jazira, said "the communications blackouts are making the missing persons crisis even worse".
Sudanese social media are filled with posts about missing persons, with activists sharing the pictures and names, many of them children or elderly.
Earlier this month, intense clashes between the army and the RSF spread to al-Jazira's Tamboul city.
Just hours after the army said it had taken control of Tamboul, witnesses reported that the paramilitaries were continuing to operate there, causing thousands of civilians to flee.
Among them was trader Osman Abdel Karim, who lost track of two of his sons during fighting on October 19.
"Two of my sons, one 15 and the other 13, were outside when the attack began that Saturday night, and we had to leave without them," the 43-year-old said.
"Ten days have passed, and we don't know if they're dead or alive."