Coronavirus could infect over 650,000 in Lebanon if lockdowns not adhered to: Report
April 8, 2020, 7:42 am

Coronavirus could infect over 650,000 in Lebanon if lockdowns not adhered to: Report

Lebanese people, who were stranded abroad by coronavirus lockdowns, are pictured wearing face masks and gloves as they hold their luggage upon arrival at Beirut's international airport, Lebanon. (File photo: Reuters)

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people will be infected with coronavirus and thousands will become critically ill if lockdown and social distancing measures are not respected, according to a report by an international non-government organization. Coronavirus

An internal report by the humanitarian medical NGO Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontières) projected that in a best-case scenario, 658,074 people in Lebanon could become infected. The country has a population of around 6 million, including roughly a million Syrian refugees and around 175,000 Palestinian refugees. The report was provided to Al-Arabiya English by a source in the medical aid community.

The best-case scenario forecasts that 454,096 Lebanese citizens will be infected by coronavirus with another 159,519 Syrians and 24,460 Palestinians. Syrians and Palestinians live makeshift camps, in unhygienic conditions that could facilitate the spread of the contagion.

In a best-case scenario, over 100,000 people will experience mild cases, while more than 17,000 people will require hospitalization, and nearly 6,000 people are expected to be in critical condition and will require intensive care.

The worst-case scenario predicts that 710,606 people will be infected in Lebanon. In this scenario, nearly 87,000 cases will be mild, over 41,000 people will require hospitalization, and another 14,000 will be in critical condition, and will thus need to be treated in intensive care units. In the worst-case scenario, 10 percent of people will be in critical condition.

The report also underlines that as the virus reaches its peak, there could be a need for more than 9,000 hospital beds in a worst-case scenario and nearly 4,000 in a best-case scenario. Lebanon has between 350-500 ICU beds countrywide, according to Global Health Institute figures. A 2013 study by Blominvest puts the number of total hospital beds at around 15,000. Coronavirus

Amaury Gregoire, the organization’s head of mission in Lebanon, spoke to Al Arabiya to confirm the report’s figures and said the worst-case scenario figures are based on statistics from Italy, where the virus has been especially deadly and ICU occupancy was around 10 percent.

“Today, Lebanon is showing numbers less than that, around 2.2 percent or 2.3 percent,” he said.

The Lebanese government has imposed strict containment measures, which have helped in flattening the contagion’s curve. However, these measures have been difficult to implement in impoverished areas in the cities of Beirut, Saida, Nabatieh, and Tripoli. Coronavirus

There is fear that more relaxed measures would lead to infection flare-ups; this is exacerbated by the ongoing repatriation of thousands of Lebanese stranded abroad.

“Regarding the Lebanese diaspora flown into Lebanon, the Lebanese government has taken all the necessary measures at entry points for the Lebanese returnees. If these measures are followed and respected, this should not affect the situation, nor should we worry about any increase in cases, “says Gregoire.

Yet as the population grows restless with extensive confinement measures, set against the backdrop of the country’s economic collapse, maintaining these measures could become challenging for the Lebanese government, which could end up pushing Lebanon’s pandemic to new peaks. levant

source: Mona Alami levant

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”