covid-19 pandemic in lebanon covid-19 pandemic in lebanon the covid-19 pandemic in lebanon was a part of the ongoing worldwide coronavirus pandemic (covid-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2). the virus was confirmed to have reached lebanon in february 2020. covid-19 pandemic in lebanon diseasecovid-19virus strainsars-cov-2locationlebanonfirst outbreakwuhan, chinaindex casebeirutarrival date21 february 2020(3 years, 2 months, 3 weeks and 1 day ago)confirmed cases1,237,127recovered1,223,598deaths10,906fatality rate0.88%government websiteministry of public health: https://www.moph.gov.lb/en background on the 12th of january, the world health organization (who) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in wuhan city, hubei province, china, who had initially come to the attention of the who on 31 december 2019. covid-19 is transmitted through little droplets carrying the virus. these droplets can enter the body through the eyes, mouth, or nose, and they might contaminate surfaces. unlike sars of 2003, the case fatality rate for covid-19 has been much lower, but the transmission has been significantly greater with a significant total death toll. lebanon was successful in handling the pandemic during its beginning, having reported between 0 and 100 daily cases from 15 march 2020 to 12 july 2020. after the beirut port explosions on 4 august 2020, cases began to skyrocket, with lebanon reporting over 1,000 cases on most days since mid-september and setting a new record of 2,817 cases of covid-19 in one day on 6 december 2020. timeline .date.. cases deaths recoveries 21 feb 2020 26 feb 2020 28 feb 2020 29 feb 2020 01 mar 2020 02 mar 2020 04 mar 2020 06 mar 2020 07 mar 2020 08 mar 2020 09 mar 2020 10 mar 2020 11 mar 2020 12 mar 2020 13 mar 2020 14 mar 2020 15 mar 2020 16 mar 2020 17 mar 2020 18 mar 2020 19 mar 2020 20 mar 2020 21 mar 2020 22 mar 2020 23 mar 2020 24 mar 2020 25 mar 2020 26 mar 2020 27 mar 2020 28 mar 2020 29 mar 2020 30 mar 2020 31 mar 2020 1 apr 2020 2 apr 2020 3 apr 2020 4 apr 2020 5 apr 2020 6 apr 2020 7 apr 2020 8 apr 2020 9 apr 2020 10 apr 2020 11 apr 2020 12 apr 2020 13 apr 2020 14 apr 2020 15 apr 2020 16 apr 2020 17 apr 2020 18 apr 2020 19 apr 2020 20 apr 2020 21 apr 2020 22 apr 2020 23 apr 2020 24 apr 2020 25 apr 2020 26 apr 2020 27 apr 2020 28 apr 2020 29 apr 2020 30 apr 2020 01 may 2020 02 may 2020 03 may 2020 04 may 2020 05 may 2020 06 may 2020 07 may 2020 08 may 2020 09 may 2020 10 may 2020 11 may 2020 12 may 2020 13 may 2020 14 may 2020 15 may 2020 16 may 2020 17 may 2020 18 may 2020 19 may 2020 20 may 2020 21 may 2020 22 may 2020 23 may 2020 24 may 2020 25 may 2020 26 may 2020 27 may 2020 28 may 2020 29 may 2020 30 may 2020 31 may 2020 01 june 2020 02 june 2020 03 june 2020 04 june 2020 12471010152228324152667378939911012413314916323024825630433336839141243844646347949450852052754154857558260961963063264165866366867267367767768268869670470771071772172572973373774074175078479680984585987087888689190291193195496110241086109711411191140116111681172119212201233124212561306 0000000000012333333444444456781011121414171718191919192020202021212121212121212222222424242424242425252525252526262626262626262626262626262626262626262626262727272728 000000000000111112333888882023233030323243444454545460646467676767678080859599100102108140140143145145145150150150150150200200200220223234234234234236236246247247251251251663673677688688689692699705709712715719724731 source : lebanese ministry of public health. as of 4 june 2020 february 2020 covid-19 cases in lebanon () deaths recoveries active casesfebfebmarmarapraprmaymayjunjunjuljulaugaugsepsepoctoctlast 15 dayslast 15 days date# of cases# of deaths 2020-02-211(n.a.) ⋮1(=) 2020-02-252(+100%) 2020-02-262(=) 2020-02-274(+100%) 2020-02-287(+75%) 2020-02-2910(+43%) ⋮10(=) 2020-03-0315(+50%) 2020-03-0415(=) 2020-03-0522(+47%) 2020-03-0628(+27%) 2020-03-0732(+14%) 2020-03-0841(+28%) 2020-03-0952(+27%)1(n.a.) 2020-03-1066(+27%)2(+100%) 2020-03-1173(+11%)3(+50%) 2020-03-1278(+6.8%)3(=) 2020-03-1393(+19%)3(=) 2020-03-1499(+6.5%)3(=) 2020-03-15110(+11%)3(=) 2020-03-16124(+13%)3(=) 2020-03-17133(+7.3%)4(+33%) 2020-03-18149(+12%)4(=) 2020-03-19163(+9.4%)4(=) 2020-03-20230(+41%)4(=) 2020-03-21248(+7.8%)4(=) 2020-03-22256(+3.2%)4(=) 2020-03-23304(+19%)4(=) 2020-03-24333(+9.5%)5(+25%) 2020-03-25368(+11%)6(+20%) 2020-03-26391(+6.2%)7(+17%) 2020-03-27412(+5.4%)8(+14%) 2020-03-28438(+6.3%)10(+25%) 2020-03-29446(+1.8%)11(+10%) 2020-03-30463(+3.8%)12(+9.1%) 2020-03-31479(+3.5%)14(+17%) 2020-04-01494(+3.1%)14(=) 2020-04-02508(+2.8%)17(+21%) 2020-04-03520(+2.4%)17(=) 2020-04-04527(+1.3%)18(+5.9%) 2020-04-05541(+2.7%)19(+5.6%) 2020-04-06548(+1.3%)19(=) 2020-04-07575(+4.9%)19(=) 2020-04-08582(+1.2%)19(=) 2020-04-09609(+4.6%)20(+5.3%) 2020-04-10619(+1.6%)20(=) 2020-04-11630(+1.8%)20(=) 2020-04-12632(+0.32%)20(=) 2020-04-13641(+1.4%)21(+5%) 2020-04-14658(+2.7%)21(=) 2020-04-15663(+0.76%)21(=) 2020-04-16668(+0.75%)21(=) 2020-04-17672(+0.6%)21(=) 2020-04-18673(+0.15%)21(=) 2020-04-19677(+0.59%)21(=) 2020-04-20677(=)21(=) 2020-04-21682(+0.74%)22(+4.8%) 2020-04-22688(+0.88%)22(=) 2020-04-23696(+1.2%)22(=) 2020-04-24704(+1.1%)24(+9.1%) 2020-04-25707(+0.43%)24(=) 2020-04-26710(+0.42%)24(=) 2020-04-27717(+0.99%)24(=) 2020-04-28721(+0.56%)24(=) 2020-04-29725(+0.55%)24(=) 2020-04-30729(+0.55%)24(=) 2020-05-01733(+0.55%)25(+4.2%) 2020-05-02737(+0.55%)25(=) 2020-05-03740(+0.41%)25(=) 2020-05-04741(+0.14%)25(=) 2020-05-05750(+1.2%)25(=) 2020-05-06784(+4.5%)25(=) 2020-05-07796(+1.5%)26(+4%) 2020-05-08809(+1.6%)26(=) 2020-05-09845(+4.4%)26(=) 2020-05-10859(+1.7%)26(=) 2020-05-11870(+1.3%)26(=) 2020-05-12878(+0.92%)26(=) 2020-05-13886(+0.91%)26(=) 2020-05-14891(+0.56%)26(=) 2020-05-15902(+1.2%)26(=) 2020-05-16911(+1%)26(=) 2020-05-17931(+2.2%)26(=) 2020-05-18954(+2.5%)26(=) 2020-05-19961(+0.73%)26(=) 2020-05-201,024(+6.6%)26(=) 2020-05-211,086(+6.1%)26(=) 2020-05-221,097(+1%)26(=) 2020-05-231,114(+1.5%)26(=) 2020-05-241,119(+0.45%)26(=) 2020-05-251,140(+1.9%)26(=) 2020-05-261,161(+1.8%)26(=) 2020-05-271,168(+0.6%)26(=) 2020-05-281,172(+0.34%)26(=) 2020-05-291,192(+1.7%)26(=) 2020-05-301,220(+2.3%)27(+3.8%) 2020-05-311,233(+1.1%)27(=) 2020-06-011,242(+0.73%)27(=) 2020-06-021,256(+1.1%)27(=) 2020-06-031,306(+4%)28(+3.7%) 2020-06-041,306(=)28(=) 2020-06-051,312(+0.46%)28(=) 2020-06-061,320(+0.61%)29(+3.6%) 2020-06-071,331(+0.83%)30(+3.4%) 2020-06-081,350(+1.4%)30(=) 2020-06-091,368(+1.3%)30(=) 2020-06-101,388(+1.5%)30(=) 2020-06-111,402(+1%)31(+3.3%) 2020-06-121,422(+1.4%)31(=) 2020-06-131,442(+1.4%)32(+3.2%) 2020-06-141,446(+0.28%)32(=) 2020-06-151,464(+1.2%)32(=) 2020-06-161,473(+0.61%)32(=) 2020-06-171,489(+1.1%)32(=) 2020-06-181,495(+0.4%)32(=) 2020-06-191,510(+1%)32(=) 2020-06-201,536(+1.7%)32(=) 2020-06-211,587(+3.3%)32(=) 2020-06-221,603(+1%)32(=) 2020-06-231,622(+1.2%)32(=) 2020-06-241,644(+1.4%)33(+3.1%) 2020-06-251,662(+1.1%)33(=) 2020-06-261,697(+2.1%)33(=) 2020-06-271,719(+1.3%)33(=) 2020-06-281,740(+1.2%)34(+3%) 2020-06-291,745(+0.29%)34(=) 2020-06-301,778(+1.9%)34(=) 2020-07-011,788(+0.56%)34(=) 2020-07-021,796(+0.45%)35(+2.9%) 2020-07-031,830(+1.9%)35(=) 2020-07-041,855(+1.4%)35(=) 2020-07-051,873(+0.97%)36(+2.9%) 2020-07-061,885(+0.64%)36(=) 2020-07-071,907(+1.2%)36(=) 2020-07-081,946(+2%)36(=) 2020-07-092,011(+3.3%)36(=) 2020-07-102,082(+3.5%)36(=) 2020-07-112,168(+4.1%)36(=) 2020-07-122,334(+7.7%)36(=) 2020-07-132,419(+3.6%)36(=) 2020-07-142,451(+1.3%)37(+2.8%) 2020-07-152,542(+3.7%)38(+2.7%) 2020-07-162,599(+2.2%)40(+5.3%) 2020-07-172,700(+3.9%)40(=) 2020-07-182,775(+2.8%)40(=) 2020-07-192,859(+3%)40(=) 2020-07-202,905(+1.6%)41(+2.5%) 2020-07-212,980(+2.6%)41(=) 2020-07-223,104(+4.2%)43(+4.9%) 2020-07-233,260(+5%)43(=) 2020-07-243,407(+4.5%)46(+7%) 2020-07-253,582(+5.1%)47(+2.2%) 2020-07-263,750(+4.7%)51(+8.5%) 2020-07-273,882(+3.5%)51(=) 2020-07-284,023(+3.6%)54(+5.9%) 2020-07-294,205(+4.5%)55(+1.9%) 2020-07-304,334(+3.1%)57(+3.6%) 2020-07-314,555(+5.1%)61(+7%) 2020-08-014,730(+3.8%)61(=) 2020-08-024,885(+3.3%)62(+1.6%) 2020-08-035,062(+3.6%)65(+4.8%) 2020-08-045,271(+4.1%)65(=) 2020-08-055,417(+2.8%)68(+4.6%) 2020-08-065,672(+4.7%)70(+2.9%) 2020-08-075,951(+4.9%)70(=) 2020-08-086,223(+4.6%)78(+11%) 2020-08-096,517(+4.7%)78(=) 2020-08-106,812(+4.5%)80(+2.6%) 2020-08-117,121(+4.5%)87(+8.8%) 2020-08-127,413(+4.1%)89(+2.3%) 2020-08-137,711(+4%)92(+3.4%) 2020-08-148,045(+4.3%)94(+2.2%) 2020-08-158,412(+4.6%)97(+3.2%) 2020-08-168,881(+5.6%)103(+6.2%) 2020-08-179,337(+5.1%)105(+1.9%) 2020-08-189,758(+4.5%)107(+1.9%) 2020-08-1910,347(+6%)109(+1.9%) 2020-08-2010,952(+5.8%)113(+3.7%) 2020-08-2111,580(+5.7%)116(+2.7%) 2020-08-2212,191(+5.3%)121(+4.3%) 2020-08-2312,698(+4.2%)123(+1.7%) 2020-08-2413,155(+3.6%)126(+2.4%) 2020-08-2513,687(+4%)138(+9.5%) 2020-08-2614,248(+4.1%)139(+0.72%) 2020-08-2714,937(+4.8%)146(+5%) 2020-08-2815,613(+4.5%)148(+1.4%) 2020-08-2916,275(+4.2%)155(+4.7%) 2020-08-3016,870(+3.7%)160(+3.2%) 2020-08-3117,308(+2.6%)167(+4.4%) 2020-09-0117,777(+2.7%)171(+2.4%) 2020-09-0218,375(+3.4%)177(+3.5%) 2020-09-0318,963(+3.2%)179(+1.1%) 2020-09-0419,490(+2.8%)183(+2.2%) 2020-09-0520,011(+2.7%)187(+2.2%) 2020-09-0620,426(+2.1%)191(+2.1%) 2020-09-0720,826(+2%)200(+4.7%) 2020-09-0821,324(+2.4%)207(+3.5%) 2020-09-0921,877(+2.6%)212(+2.4%) 2020-09-1022,437(+2.6%)219(+3.3%) 2020-09-1122,983(+2.4%)229(+4.6%) 2020-09-1223,669(+3%)239(+4.4%) 2020-09-1324,310(+2.7%)241(+0.84%) 2020-09-1425,401(+4.5%)246(+2.1%) 2020-09-1525,449(+0.19%)252(+2.4%) 2020-09-1626,083(+2.5%)259(+2.8%) 2020-09-1726,768(+2.6%)263(+1.5%) 2020-09-1827,518(+2.8%)281(+6.8%) 2020-09-1928,297(+2.8%)286(+1.8%) 2020-09-2029,303(+3.6%)297(+3.8%) 2020-09-2129,987(+2.3%)307(+3.4%) 2020-09-2230,852(+2.9%)315(+2.6%) 2020-09-2331,792(+3%)328(+4.1%) 2020-09-2432,819(+3.2%)329(+0.3%) 2020-09-2533,962(+3.5%)333(+1.2%) 2020-09-2635,242(+3.8%)340(+2.1%) 2020-09-2736,254(+2.9%)347(+2.1%) 2020-09-2837,272(+2.8%)351(+1.2%) 2020-09-2938,377(+3%)361(+2.8%) 2020-09-3039,634(+3.3%)367(+1.7%) 2020-10-0140,882(+3.1%)374(+1.9%) 2020-10-0242,173(+3.2%)386(+3.2%) 2020-10-0343,494(+3.1%)398(+3.1%) 2020-10-0444,482(+2.3%)406(+2%) 2020-10-0545,657(+2.6%)414(+2%) 2020-10-0646,918(+2.8%)424(+2.4%) 2020-10-0748,377(+3.1%)433(+2.1%) 2020-10-0849,744(+2.8%)439(+1.4%) 2020-10-0949,744(=)439(=) 2020-10-1052,558(+5.7%)455(+3.6%) 2020-10-1153,568(+1.9%)459(+0.88%) 2020-10-1254,624(+2%)466(+1.5%) 2020-10-1355,869(+2.3%)479(+2.8%) 2020-10-1457,246(+2.5%)499(+4.2%) 2020-10-1558,745(+2.6%)501(+0.4%) 2020-10-1660,113(+2.3%)509(+1.6%) 2020-10-1761,284(+1.9%)517(+1.6%) 2020-10-1862,286(+1.6%)520(+0.58%) 2020-10-1962,944(+1.1%)526(+1.2%) 2020-10-2064,336(+2.2%)531(+0.95%) 2020-10-2165,577(+1.9%)536(+0.94%) 2020-10-2267,027(+2.2%)552(+3%) 2020-10-2368,479(+2.2%)559(+1.3%) 2020-10-2469,906(+2.1%)562(+0.54%) 2020-10-2571,390(+2.1%)565(+0.53%) 2020-10-2672,186(+1.1%)579(+2.5%) 2020-10-2773,995(+2.5%)590(+1.9%) sources: lebanon coronavirus (covid-19) emergency: first source of information in lebanon. information on coronavirus: lebanese ministry of information. on 21 february 2020, lebanon confirmed its first case of covid-19: a 45-year-old woman traveling back from pilgrimage in qom, iran tested positive for sars-cov-2 and was transferred to a hospital in beirut. on 26 february, a second woman, who returned from iran on the same mahan air flight as the first patient, also tested positive. on 27 february, a 77-year-old iranian man, who arrived from iran on 24 february, tested positive and was admitted to rafik hariri university hospital in beirut. on 28 february, a syrian woman tested positive and was admitted to rafik hariri university hospital in beirut. on 29 february, the total reached 7 confirmed cases. march 2020 on 1 march, the ministry of health announced 3 new cases, bringing the total cases to 13. these three people had isolated themselves upon arriving to lebanon from iran days before. on 4 march, total confirmed cases reached 15. on 10 march, the first coronavirus-related death in lebanon was recorded. on 11 march, rafik hariri university hospital announced the second death, a 55-year-old man. there were also 9 new cases. the first fully recovered patient was also announced. on 12 march, the third death was reported. this was a 79-year-old man who was infected from the first deceased patient at a hospital in byblos. on 13 march, the total number of cases reached 78. these included an employee at the ministry of public health. on 14 march, 15 new cases were announced in lebanon, bringing the total to 93. on 15 march, 6 new cases were announced, bringing the total to 99. lebanon declared a state of medical emergency. the government announced the two-week closure of beirut airport, seaports and land entrances to begin on march 18. on 21 march, prime minister hassan diab in a televised speech urged people in lebanon to implement "self-curfew," adding that security forces would enforce the lockdown measures. on 26 march, lebanon imposed a partial curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. to slow the spread of the virus. 35 new cases were announced, bringing the total number of cases to 368. on 30 march, there were 446 confirmed cases and 11 deaths. april 2020 on 2 april, philippine ambassador to lebanon, bernardita catalla, died of covid-19 in beirut at the age of 62. she was the first filipino diplomat to succumb to the disease. human rights watch released a report saying that at least 21 lebanese municipalities have introduced discriminatory restrictions on syrian refugees that do not apply to lebanese residents as part of their efforts to combat covid-19, undermining the country's public health response. on 4 april, the minister of health department announced there were 520 total cases of covid-19. on 9 april, the lebanese cabinet extended the national lockdown, which started on 15 march and was extended on 26 march, for an additional 2 weeks until 26 april. on 22 april, a palestinian from syria became the first case reported in a refugee camp, located in the wavel refugee camp in bekaa. the total number of cases was 682, with 22 deaths. may 2020 on 5 may, the national lockdown was extended by the government for an additional 2 weeks until 24 may. the total number of cases was 741, with 25 deaths as of 5 may. on 7 may, 25 lebanese citizens who boarded an inbound flight from nigeria tested positive. on 13 may, a full lockdown went into effect until 18 may due to a large increase in positive cases. over 100 new cases in the previous 4 days were announced, bring the total number of infected to 870, with 26 deaths. on 21 may, lebanon's health ministry reported 63 new cases of the coronavirus, the largest single-day increase since the outbreak of the pandemic. many of the new cases were the result of lebanese expatriates returning home, information minister manal abdel samad said. august 2020 on 6 august, a record 255 new cases were reported by the national news agency in lebanon along with two deaths. on 11 august, lebanon announced a record daily number of over 300 covid-19 infections and seven deaths. following a surge in infections, on 18 august 2020, lebanon ordered a two-week lockdown. september 2020 coronavirus cases increased after an enormous explosion in beirut on august 4 that killed over 200 people and flooded the capital's hospitals with the wounded. on 27 september 2020, gebran bassil's party said he was infected with a "mild" case of covid-19 as cases continued to surge throughout lebanon. in addition, two major prisons in lebanon, roumieh prison and zahle prison, witnessed large outbreaks in the last weeks of september, with 377 and 238 confirmed cases respectively. this caused outrage among the prisoners, as they called for the appropriate measures to be taken. october 2020 on 4 october, 111 towns and villages were placed under lockdown, which will last until 12 october. this comes after 1,248 new cases and 7 new deaths were reported on 1 october. on 12 october, 169 towns and villages were placed under lockdown for a week. many of the towns had already been under lockdown the week before. the total number of cases reached 52,558, along with 455 deaths. on 19 october 2020, the general director of the general directorate of general security abbas ibrahim tested positive while in the united states. the wall street journal reported that he had met national security adviser robert c. o'brien at the white house the week before to discuss american citizens held in syria. the general directorate of general security said in a tweet that he was in good health. on 23 october 2020, he returned to beirut. november 2020 on 2 november, 115 towns and villages were placed under lockdown. a nationwide curfew from 9pm to 5am also took effect. the total number of cases reached 82,617, along with 643 deaths. december 2020 on 21 december, the first case of the variant strain was detected on a flight coming from the united kingdom. the total number of cases as of 26 december reached 165,933, along with 1,000 deaths. on 28 december, lebanon's health minister announced it had reserved 2 million doses of the pfizer-biontech vaccine, expected to be delivered by february 2021. january 2021 considered one of the deadliest months. country is on total lockdown as numbers of cases reached this month only: 100,746 cases to date. healthcare system is on the verge of collapsing as hospitals are overloaded and few beds remain available. situation is considered as extremely serious and dangerous. february 2021 the world bank which approved to pay $34 million for vaccines for 2 million people, threatened to halt financing them in lebanon, as it investigated suspected favoritism amid reports that parliament members were inoculated without prior approval. march 2021 as of 16 march, there have been 423,433 confirmed cumulative cases and 5,474 deaths because of coronavirus. on march 18, it was reported that the first batch of sputnik-v vaccines will arrive soon to lebanon and will be available in all hospitals for 38 us dollars. on march 24, 2021, syrian authorities said that they will provide emergency oxygen supplies to lebanon who's enduring a shortage of oxygen. on march 26, lebanon received the first batch of 50.000 doses of