BEIRUT (AP) – Lebanese authorities began to impose an 11-day national shutdown and uninterrupted curfew on Thursday, hoping to limit the spread of coronavirus infections that go out of control after the holiday period.
For the first time, residents were required to apply for a one-hour authorization to be able to leave the house for “emergencies”, including going to the bakery, pharmacist, doctor, hospital or airport.
Authorities were pressured to take a tougher approach after the country’s hospitals ran out of beds with daily infections, reaching a record high of 5,440 cases last week in the country of nearly 6 million people.
The dramatic increase in infections began in late December. While most governments around the world restricted blockages, Lebanon relaxed health measures during the holidays, allowing restaurants and night clubs to reopen with virtually no restrictions. It is estimated that 80,000 expatriates returned to the country to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their loved ones, many of them expatriates who stopped visiting in the summer due to the devastating explosion of August 4 in the port of Beirut.
“The holiday season should be the time for a blockade. The season of crowds, shopping and parties, ”said Hanna Azar, owner of a money transfer and telephone store. “They opened up to allow dollars to enter the country and now they want to close, especially in this economic crisis. People have no money to eat. “
Even before the coronavirus, Lebanon was experiencing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis that saw its national currency and the banking sector collapse and blocked depositors’ savings. Hospitals, long considered among the best in the Middle East, struggled to pay staff, keep equipment running and secure the necessary medical supplies as dollars ran out.
Amid the sudden increase, many hospitals have already reached maximum capacity for patients with coronavirus. Some suspended elective surgery because they ran out of beds, oxygen tanks and ventilators.
In addition, the country has been without government since the former resigned after the catastrophic explosion of August 4 in the port of Beirut, which put further pressure on hospitals, flooding them with wounded. At least three hospitals were destroyed.
The massive explosion caused by the detonation of a poorly stored ammonium nitrate stock devastated the city, killing more than 200 people and injuring thousands.
On Thursday, police controlled checkpoints across the country, checking drivers’ traffic permits and creating congestion in some cases. The curfew is the most rigid since the beginning of the pandemic. For the first time, even supermarkets were instructed to close their doors and open only for delivery. That decision sparked three days of chaotic panic, as concerned citizens emptied supermarket and grocery store shelves.
Lebanon had just announced a national blockade last week. But many, including the minister of health and officials of a government committee, found him very tolerant because he exempted many sectors. In some areas of the country, business continued as usual, leading to more requests for total stoppage and curfew.