Central bank governor Riad Salameh instructed Lebanese banks on Friday to prioritize transfers for the purchase of medical supplies and equipment to combat coronavirus, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Lebanon’s banks issued a statement suspending work on Saturday over coronavirus fears.

Lebanon bank employee union said in the statement that the “number of coronavirus cases is increasing despite the health ministry’s instructions.”

The newly-appointed US ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, said from the Grand Serail on Friday that the United States continues to “support” Lebanon and the calls of Lebanese protesters demanding reforms and an end for corruption.

The two US-based firms to act as legal and financial advisers on Lebanon’s public debt restructuring began negotiating with major creditors abroad after the government decided to default on its $1.2 billion Eurobond debt, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

The state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital confirmed seven new coronavirus cases on Thursday evening.

The hospital noted that the tally does not include virus tests carried out at other hospitals and that it is up to the Health Ministry to announce the overall count.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Thursday that fighting the COVID-19 coronavirus requires the utmost seriousness, noting that "the mistakes that have occurred are now behind us."

"What is in front of us is only the mobilization of all efforts within the State, health institutions and civil society to fight the epidemic," he tweeted, according to an English-language statement distributed by his office.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Thursday said Lebanon has “the right to ask for help from the International Monetary Fund,” citing Iran’s request for aid from the IMF on Thursday in the face of its coronavirus outbreak.

“Amid the enormous explosion of this pandemic, only human solidarity remains essential and down with the narrow political calculations,” Jumblat tweeted.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan announced Thursday that the country’s anti-coronavirus committee had declared Wednesday what resembles a "civil health emergency," stressing that “the Lebanese people enjoy awareness” regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Responding to a reporter’s question, Hasan said Lebanon cannot declare an official state of emergency seeing as that would harm daily income workers.

The Lebanese government on Thursday decided to “double the speed and quotas of internet services” in order to encourage citizens to stay home amid a local and global coronavirus outbreak.

During a cabinet session held in Baabda, the government also decided to utilize a $39 million loan from the World Bank to equip state-run hospitals in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

LibanPost has resumed the handling of the “Lebanese Biometric Passport” renewal as well as that of the “Temporary Residence for Syrian Nationals” and has launched the possibility to pay for the “Beirut Municipality Fee” at any of its 100+ offices across the country.

In a statement, the company said the new services aim to prove anew “its commitment to serve all residents and facilitate their daily lives.”