BEIRUT (AP) – There has been a choice between containing a spiraling virus outbreak and reviving a dying economy in a country in a constant financial and economic crisis over the past year. The Lebanese authorities have chosen the latter.
Now, patients with the virus who are struggling to breathe are waiting outside hospitals – hoping to open a bed or even a chair. Ordinary people share the contact lists of oxygen suppliers on social networks as critical gas becomes less frequent and the sound of ambulances carrying sick echoes through Beirut. About 500 of Lebanon’s 14,000 doctors have left the country in crisis in recent months, according to the Medical Order, putting additional pressure on existing hospital staff.
On Thursday, Lebanese authorities headed in the other direction: they began implementing an 11-day nationwide shutdown and a non-stop clean-up nest, hoping to spread the spread of coronavirus infections that would spiral out of control. after the holiday period.
The extinction of time is the strictest measure taken by Lebanon since the beginning of the pandemic.
Previous closures had weaker rules and were poorly enforced. Now, residents cannot leave their homes, except for a defined set of reasons, including going to the bakery, pharmacy, doctor’s office, hospital or airport – and for the first time they have to apply for a permit before doing these things. Even supermarkets can only be opened for delivery.
While Lebanon has somehow managed to keep cases at an average of less than 100 a day until August, it now leads the Arab world in the number of cases per million people. Today, the number of daily deaths from COVID-19 is more than 13 times higher than in July. On January 9, more than 5,400 infections were reported, a record for the small country.
On Thursday, Lebanon recorded a new daily record of 41 deaths, bringing the total number of cases to nearly 237,200 and 1,781 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
As its neighbors begin vaccinating their populations – including Israel, whose campaign promises to be among the fastest in the world – Lebanon has not yet secured a first batch of shots. Once a leader in the health sector in the Middle East, Lebanon has been prevented from obtaining vaccines through repeated bureaucratic delays, in part due to its interim government.
Parliament is expected to meet on Friday to vote on a bill allowing the import of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, with the first deliveries to arrive next month.
“This is the result of deliberate decisions made by irresponsible and immoral politicians,” said Sami Hanna, a 42-year-old businessman who was waiting his turn to enter a pharmacy earlier this week in search of painkillers, antidepressants. and blood pressure medication for his elderly parents.
“That’s how we spend our days begging now,” he said, adding that his next mission was to look for bread, which was exhausted by buying panic before installing the curfew. “It is too late. . ”
The increase in the number of coronavirus cases began in late August, a few weeks after the massive explosion in the port of Beirut that destroyed parts of the capital, including several hospitals with virus patients.
The blast was caused by a fire that detonated nearly three tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate, which had been in a port depot for years – the kind of mismanagement typical of a corrupt political class that fails to provide even the services of base of its people.
The virus grew in the chaos of flooded hospitals, funerals and protests that followed.
Further complicating efforts to counter the virus, politicians have failed to agree on a new government since the old one resigned following the port blast, effectively ensuring the country’s development.
But in December, as most governments around the world tightened blockades, Lebanon moved in the other direction, allowing restaurants and nightclubs to reopen with few restrictions. An estimated 80,000 expatriates have traveled to the country to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their loved ones – many of them Lebanese who did not visit in the summer due to the devastation caused by the explosion.
“The holiday season should have been the closing time. The season of crowds, shopping and parties, ”said Hanna Azar, owner of a money and telephone transfer store. “They opened it to allow the dollars to enter the country and now they want to close. Especially in this economic crisis, people have no money for food. ”
Many hospitals have now reached maximum capacity for coronavirus patients. Some were left without beds, oxygen tanks and fans. Others stopped elective operations.
Last week, Lebanon imposed a 25-day national blockade and a nightmare to limit the spread of the virus, but many sectors were exempted and enforcement was lax, as in the past. Many companies, including hair salons, welcomed customers behind closed windows. In some areas of northern and southern Lebanon, it worked as usual.
With hospitals on the verge of collapse, the government then ordered an 11-day nationwide jubilee on Thursday, triggering three days of chaos, as crowds of shoppers emptied supermarket and bakery shelves.
On Thursday, police checked checkpoints across the country, checking drivers’ permission to be on the road.
Halim Shebaya, a political analyst, said the government did not yet have a clear strategy and warned that it would be difficult to lower the numbers late in the game.
“The main problem now is the lack of trust in the government and the authorities and the management of a pandemic requires the presence of public confidence in the measures taken by the authorities,” he said.
However, Rabih Torbay, who leads Project HOPE, an international health and humanity organization, said time was of the essence and urged authorities to take any measures that could help reduce infections.
“Every day that passes through the country slips further into the abyss,” he said.
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Associated Press journalists Fadi Tawil and Bilal Hussein contributed to the report.