BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Wednesday the country was at risk of losing its control over the country’s coronavirus outbreak after a spike in the number of cases following the massive explosion in Beirut on Aug 4.
“The number of cases is increasing greatly, and if this continues, we will lose control of this epidemic,” Diab was cited as saying in a statement issued by the Supreme Defense Council.
Lebanon registered 525 new COVID-19 infections and 12 deaths on Tuesday. The country experienced a spike in infections following the catastrophic explosion in the capital city at the start of the month.
Cases doubled in the two weeks following the blast, as infections spread in hospitals where victims were being treated, medics say.
The government imposed a partial lockdown last Friday to help combat community spread. But the shutdown, which includes a curfew from 6pm to 6am, still allows for clearing rubble, making repairs and giving out aid in neighborhoods damaged by the explosion. The airport will remain open, with travelers having to take PCR tests before boarding and on arriving in the country.
The health minister for Lebanon’s caretaker government, Hamad Hassan, who also spoke to the Council, said the tally of coronavirus cases was concerning. Hassan added that hospital capacity needed to be increased to help combat the spike in cases, the official said.
Lebanon could ‘lose control’ of coronavirus outbreak: PM Diab
https://arab.news/97gtw
Lebanon could ‘lose control’ of coronavirus outbreak: PM Diab
- Lebanon registered 525 new COVID-19 infections and 12 deaths on Tuesday
- The country experienced a spike in infections following the catastrophic explosion in the capital city
In major policy shift on Syria, UN Security Council lifts sanctions on Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham
- Move reflects evolving Syrian political landscape in the post-Assad era, ending a global freeze on assets, travel ban and arms embargo
NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council on Friday removed Al-Nusra Front, the militant group that evolved into Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, from its so-called Daesh and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List.
The move signals a major shift in international policy toward Syria’s evolving political landscape in the post-Assad era, and ends a global freeze on assets, travel ban and arms embargo that have been imposed on the group since 2014.
Al-Nusra Front and Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham were led by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, formerly Abu Mohammed Al-Julani, who is now Syria’s president and was a leading figure in the offensive that toppled the Assad regime.
The consensus decision by the Security Council’s sanctions committee was announced by the UK, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month and was acting in the absence of the chair of the committee. It followed a request by the new Syrian authorities to delist “Al-Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant.”
The decision means measures that were applied to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham under Security Council Resolution 2734, adopted in 2024, no longer apply. As a result, UN member states are notrequired to freeze the group’s funds, restrict the movement of its representatives, or block the supply or transfer of arms and related materiel.
Al-Nusra Front was added to the sanctions list for its ties to Al-Qaeda and involvement in the financing and execution of militant activities during the war in Syria. The UN initially continued to treat the group’s successor organization, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, as a listed alias.
Al-Sharaa has said the group severed all prior transnational jihadist links and is now solely focused on local Syrian matters.
