Lebanon recorded 3,463 new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases on Wednesday, the Health Ministry’s daily outbreak report revealed.
Since the pandemic reached Lebanon in February 2020, 383,499 total infections have been confirmed in the country, including 2,576 among healthcare workers, of which 9 were registered in the past 24 hours.
In the same period, 61 COVID-19-related fatalities and 2,169 recoveries were recorded, raising the cumulative number of deaths to 4,866 and that of full recoveries to 298,406, as of Wednesday.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, 21,105 tests to detect COVID-19 were administered in Lebanon, including 18,138 local PCR tests, 1,909 airport PCR tests, and 1,058 antigen tests, according to the report.
As of the time of writing, 2,178 patients are in hospital beds across the country, 886 are in critical condition and occupy intensive care unit beds, and 273 are on mechanical ventilation.
Notably, the Health Ministry’s data shows that 7,000 children aged 0-9 and 26,000 aged 10-19 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Lebanon.
Commenting on these numbers, Firass Abiad, head of Rafik Hariri University Hospital, warned in a recent tweet that most children with COVID-19 do not show symptoms and that “the incidence of the infection in the young is usually underestimated.”
Stressing the underestimated danger posed on children by the disease, Abiad noted that reopening schools in Lebanon at this stage carries risks that, to be avoided, require the implementation of proper safety measures, including testing.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry recorded 3,098 COVID-19 cases and 62 fatalities.
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