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Lebanon: Spike in Virus Cases Exhausts Health Care Sector

A customer pushes her trolley next to near empty shelves after people hoarded food, in Beirut, Lebanon, January 11, 2021. Reuters
A customer pushes her trolley next to near empty shelves after people hoarded food, in Beirut, Lebanon, January 11, 2021. Reuters
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Lebanon: Spike in Virus Cases Exhausts Health Care Sector

A customer pushes her trolley next to near empty shelves after people hoarded food, in Beirut, Lebanon, January 11, 2021. Reuters
A customer pushes her trolley next to near empty shelves after people hoarded food, in Beirut, Lebanon, January 11, 2021. Reuters

Lebanon is set to go under a 24-hour curfew for 11 days from Thursday amid a dramatic surge in COVID-19 infections and fears that the worse is yet to come.

The surge in new cases is among the steepest in the world.

Under the new measures, non-essential workers will not be allowed out of the house and supermarkets will only operate delivery services.

This has prompted fears of food shortages as such services are not readily available in impoverished and remote regions.

It has also caused panic buying with people lining up in front of grocery shops and bakeries to store goods.

Lebanon had only just announced a nationwide lockdown last week. But many, including the health minister and officials on a government committee, considered it to be too lenient because it exempted many sectors.

“Since the spread of the pandemic in Lebanon, the ruling class … has committed a crime by implementing random policies amid lack of planning,” Doctor and ex-MP Ismail Sukkarieh said.

He expected a “coronavirus massacre” in the coming days as hospitals run out of beds.

Ahead of Christmas and New Year, the government had relaxed measures with hopes to bolster the country's crumbling economy, allowing bars and nightclubs to open for the first time in months.

The reckless measures sparked a hike in the number of cases and for the first time, citizens were seen waiting in front of hospitals.

A group of activists gathered Tuesday outside the Health Ministry, demanding to know the fate of field hospitals that were offered by several countries following the Aug. 4 Beirut port explosion.
The activists asked the government to equip the hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry announced 4,557 new coronavirus infections, which raises the cumulative number to 226,948 cases. It said 32 deaths have been recorded over the past 24 hours.

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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.