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As Cases Rise, Lebanon Seeks to Enforce COVID-19 Preventive Measures

Municipal workers spray disinfectant in a street in Beirut to counter the spread of the new coronavirus (AFP)
Municipal workers spray disinfectant in a street in Beirut to counter the spread of the new coronavirus (AFP)
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As Cases Rise, Lebanon Seeks to Enforce COVID-19 Preventive Measures

Municipal workers spray disinfectant in a street in Beirut to counter the spread of the new coronavirus (AFP)
Municipal workers spray disinfectant in a street in Beirut to counter the spread of the new coronavirus (AFP)

Lebanon’s security forces have boosted their measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 amid an increase in the number of cases.

The Ministry of Public Health announced on Monday the registration of 995 new Coronavirus infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 62,944.

It also reported six death cases during the past 24 hours.

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi and the Coronavirus Follow-up Committee issued new preventive measures and procedures after a meeting held on Saturday.

The committee issued a new list of towns classified as dangerous and witnessing an increase in the number of cases.

It also reiterated the importance of wearing masks, warning that violators would be strictly fined.

All kinds of social events were banned in 79 towns and villages across the country while governmental and private institutions and schools in villages under lockdown were closed.

Last week, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan stirred controversy after announcing that Lebanon would get the vaccine against COVID-19 through COVAX, an international initiative aimed at ensuring equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines, before the end of this year.

"The first quantity of vaccine will be available for 20 percent of the Lebanese," he said, adding the rest of the needed quantities will arrive in Lebanon in batches.

The minister’s statements surprised several medical and political officials.

“This does not reflect the international status of the vaccine, which the Russians promised to release and which drives several questions concerning its efficacy and its side effects,” former MP Dr. Ismail Sukkarieh said.

He explained that the vaccine has still not been licensed by the FDA and the World Health Organization.

“There is no doubt that the minister cares about the general health of citizens, however, the issue is complicated and requires sensitive information and making the right choices,” Sukkariyeh added.

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3 Members of Syrian Security Forces Killed in Clashes with Regime Remnants in Daraa

Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.
Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.
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3 Members of Syrian Security Forces Killed in Clashes with Regime Remnants in Daraa

Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.
Defense ministry and security forces gather in Daraa’s town of al-Sanamayn.

Three members of the Syrian Internal Security Forces and a member of local armed groups were killed in clashes between the country’s new authorities and former military security forces affiliated with the ousted regime in the town of al-Sanamayn in the southern Daraa governorate.

Civilians, including women and children, were wounded in the unrest.

Military reinforcements arrived in the town on Wednesday morning to “raid outlawed armed groups,” a statement from Daraa authorities said, citing Internal Security official Abdul-Razzaq al-Khatib.

“The clashes remain intense in several buildings in the southwestern district of the city,” Khatib said, adding that a security officer was wounded in a direct gunfire attack on a checkpoint in the town on Tuesday.

Gunfights have been reported across Syria since the new authorities took power in Damascus on Dec. 8, with security officials blaming loyalists of the former regime for the unrest.

The authorities have launched security operations targeting what they describe as “remnants of the former regime,” leading to arrests, according to official statements.

Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the biggest challenges for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, following a devastating civil war that began in 2011 and saw multiple factions involved.

The local news outlet Daraa 24 reported that the deceased were associated with a group led by Mohsen al-Himid, a former operative of the military security branch under the Assad regime.

Al-Himid’s group had been actively involved in the clashes, making them potential targets in the ongoing cycle of retaliatory attacks and factional violence in the region.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group “considers itself above the law” and has continued to defy state authority while committing serious crimes, including murder, armed robbery, theft, kidnapping for ransom, and drug trafficking.

Residents have long called for a crackdown on such gangs, particularly since the fall of the Assad regime, in a bid to rid their communities of groups that “terrorize the population, spread corruption, and destroy society,” the sources added.

The number of outlawed armed groups still operating in parts of Daraa is small, but they continue to fuel insecurity and fear among residents, sources familiar with the situation said.

“The government is determined to restore security and stability across the governorate,” one source told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that these groups are “not factions but criminal gangs.”

Most armed factions, the source noted, have already integrated into the Ministry of Defense.

The Internal Security Forces had launched a security campaign on Feb. 20 targeting remnants of the former regime, as well as drug and arms traffickers.

The operation has also sought to confiscate illegal weapons in the Daraa towns of al-Harah and Nimr, in an effort to tighten security.