Geagea Urges Declaration of Health Emergency

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday called for declaring a health emergency in Lebanon and said authorities’ response to the coronavirus crisis has been insufficient due to “political reasons.”

“A serious health emergency must be declared, especially as to providing public and private hospitals with all the necessary equipment and taking the maximum precaution measures,” Geagea tweeted.

“It is also needed to stop all flights from countries witnessing major disease outbreaks, especially Iran and Italy, seeing as there direct flights from these countries to Lebanon,” Geagea added, lamenting that such a measure should have been taken from the very beginning.

“Unfortunately, the government did not take it for the known political reasons,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Lebanon recorded its second death from the virus as eight more infections were confirmed, raising the country’s overall cases to 61, the Health Ministry said.

Media reports meanwhile said that Lebanese authorities are mulling the closure of restaurants and cafes, following the recent shutting of educational institutions, sports clubs, nightclubs, pubs, fairs and other venues.