Sadly, one man died in Lebanon today (56 years old). His name is Mr. Jean Khoury, according to l’Orient Le Jour. May he rest in peace… Bambi’s heart goes to his family and loved ones. He seemed to have visited Egypt. From what Bambi understood, his diagnosis may have been somehow delayed and he was transferred across hospitals. However, it remains unclear if the latter factors contributed to his complications and death.
It seems that the official number of cases (including the case of mortality) has reached a total of 52, as of March 10, 2020.
Schools, universities, and daycares remain closed until March 15. Public gardens, some mosques (for Friday’s prayer) in addition to nightclubs, restaurants, gyms, and the Casino du Liban are/will be closed.
Last weekend, the police, along with a sort of “a touristic” type of police, forced the closure of two nightclubs that remained open, despite the public ban. It is hard to stop Lebanese people when they want to party… or do business!
Other mosques and churches remain open as usual, especially that it is a spiritually busy season (preceding Easter). However, it seems that some churches had to change some of their rituals because of COVID-19.
The public hospital (featured in the video below by TRT World) seems to be doing the best it can to serve patients infected with the coronavirus (along with its regular patients). However, according to the same article cited herein, this overwhelmed hospital is now in need of external assistance, namely with regard to testing. The latter will be also be done from now on by medical labs of universities and several private teaching-hospitals.
Of not, the l’Orient le Jour article reported that the cost of the coronavirus test is: 150,000 Lebanese pounds (about CAD $156). It is unclear to Bambi who would be covering the fees of this test in the future: patient themselves (can they afford it?), the government (as it usually does when people do not have a private insurance), or the insurance companies. It is also unclear if Lebanon has or will receive assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO).
On thing is certain though: the crisis of this pandemic is an additional burden to a “bankrupt” country and to a population already strained by the financial/economic crisis since October 17, 2019 :(. Despite this, at least from far away, Lebanon seems to be dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic with efficacy (as much as realistically possible and at least for now). This is not surprising to Bambi. After all, it is the story of Lebanon, a tiny country expert in crisis management/survival.
