DUBAI: Lebanon’s Public Health Minister Hamad Hassan has praised the way the government managed the coronavirus outbreak, saying it has avoided a “bad scenario” of mass infections and deaths, state-run National News Agency has reported.

The country’s COVID-19 toll stood at 704 on Sunday – one of the countries with the lowest cases in the region. There have been 24 deaths from the virus so far.

Hassan said this figure was due to Lebanon’s “cooperation and collaboration between the ministries concerned.”

He said it was particularly notable given the country’s “financial and catastrophic conditions,” adding other more capable countries “have not been able to cope with the widespread of the disease.”

But the Lebanese government should not be lenient, Hassan said, as it gradually eases down lockdown measures.