Diab chairs meeting of Inter-ministerial Committee for follow up of coronavirus file

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired a meeting of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Follow up of the coronavirus file.

Attending the meeting were Ministers Zeina Akar, Raoul Nehme, Mohammad Fahmi, Michel Najjar, Ramzi Musharrafieh, Hamad Hassan, Tarek Majzoub, and Charbel Wehbe, as well as the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Judge Mahmoud Makie, the Secretary General of the Higher Defense Council, Major-General Mahmoud Al-Asmar, and PM's Advisors, Khodor Taleb, Petra Khoury and Hussein Kaafarani.

After the meeting, Minister Hassan delivered the following statement:

"We assessed the outcomes of the two-week lockdown, and we found out that the percentage of commitment in Lebanon compared to January and February did not exceed fifty percent. Since the festive season is approaching, and since we are going through special circumstances and life's complications, we have turned to middle-way solutions.

According to WHO's standards, as explained today by Dr. Nada Ghosn, head of the Epidemiological Surveillance Program at the Ministry of Health, Lebanon is classified as a third level country in terms of risk assessment, which forces us to adopt a responsible, not a safe, gradual reopening. The risk still exists. The lockdown's results will appear next week, and we hope they will feature a reduced risk. Today, at the health level, there was a stabilization in terms of positive cases' percentage at 15 percent; before the closure, ICU beds occupancy rate for corona patients varied between 80 and 90. Today we have reached 65 to 70.

We must allow the people to gradually achieve an economic return; after we will assess outbreak and response indicators in the course of a week. We must adhere to the three safe tips: wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding overcrowded places."