A first Covid-19 woman from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon is now hospitalized at the public Rafic Hariri hospital in Beirut.
In collaboration with the UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), the Lebanese Ministry of Health sent a team of medical experts to carry tests.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, “the testing will focus on the woman’s relatives and people she has interacted with, as well as 50 others chosen arbitrarily inside the camp and its surroundings”.
Best wishes!
Here is the first France24 article in English:
https://www.france24.com/en/20200422-first-virus-case-in-lebanon-palestinian-refugee-camp-un
According to the UNRWA website (https://www.unrwa.org/where-we-work/lebanon): There are “47,075 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (as of January 1, 2019), 12 refugee camps, 65 schools, with 36,960 students, including 5,254 Palestinian refugees from Syria, one Vocational and Technical Training Centre with about 900 students on two campuses, and 27 health centers”.
Lebanon also hosts over 1 million Syrian refugees, half of them are children.
Of note, Syrian children go to school in the Lebanese public system in the afternoon (Lebanese students leave school to go home at 2 PM):
http://webdoc.france24.com/lebanon-syria-war-displaced-children-school/
Obviously, everyone is confined now. Indeed, Lebanon has asked nurseries, schools, and universities to close since February 29, 2020.
Did Bambi use the word “everyone”? Not really… Now Lebanese protesters are back to streets…. But in car convoys. The pandemic occurred in the middle of a revolt, as a reminder.
Here is the second English France24 article on this topic:
https://www.france24.com/en/20200421-lebanese-protesters-back-on-the-streets-in-their-cars
People are gathering in cars, requested to ideally be with two passengers, wearing gloves and masks. In addition, people have been instructed not to leave their cars and to respect all the protective health measures, as per the Lebanese Ministry of Heath. For example, some of the measures include curfews after certain evening hours, curfews on Sundays, and driving cars according to odd/even license plates (one day odd numbers, the second day even numbers).
Of course, the corruption theme remains central in this pacific and respectful movement. Sadly and not surprisingly, the economic crisis, already dramatic before the pandemic, has worsened (some experts are even reporting that the unemployment rate has reached 50% ☹).
Luckily, the Lebanese army has been distributing free food to confined people in need. This is a very appreciated initiative! As well, like before the pandemic, private organizations and individuals have been as generous as ever. Actually, many volunteers have been infected with the coronavirus.
Regardless of all the solidarity, the sad reality is that the situation is unbearable. Indeed, one of the protesters, a retired man from the army, mentioned that his actual salary is equivalent to US$100… per month. This is just one citizen. One example.
Tragically, for many Lebanese citizens already living in extreme poverty, the question is as simple as follows: What is worst to die from, the coronavirus or hunger?
With this question, Bambi will stop here… Below are some recent (yesterday night) and slightly older (last week?) pictures from Lebanon.
