Lebanon extends countrywide lockdown to combat coronavirus

Lebanon is set to extend a countrywide lockdown by two weeks until April 12 to combat the spread of coronavirus.

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Lebanon has recorded 333 cases of coronavirus, which has caused six deaths in the country so far.

A request to extend the lockdown was agreed at a meeting of the supreme defence council on Thursday attended by senior officials including the president, prime minister, the health minister and the army chief.

A food deliveryman rides his bicycle past a Bank of Beirut branch in Beirut, Lebanon. AP

The meeting was followed by a cabinet session.

Lebanon declared a state of medical emergency on March 15, urging people to stay at home and ordering the closure of most public and private establishments. Beirut airport is closed.

Though Lebanon has not gone as far as to declare a curfew, Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Saturday asked the security forces to enforce stricter measures to get people to adhere to them.

Reuters