The Lebanese Ministerial Crisis Cell, headed by prime minister Hassan Diab, announced a series of decisions based on the recommendations of the “Committee to Follow up on Preventive and Protective Measures for the Coronavirus.” That committee is also tasked to discuss the developments of the virus.
These decisions come a day after Lebanese minister of health Hamad Samad announced that a Lebanese patient boarding an aircraft from Iran was diagnosed with coronavirus on Friday, February 21st.
The decisions stated:
1- Isolating people showing symptoms of infection and those arriving from areas with recorded coronavirus, and putting them in quarantine in the Rafic Hariri Governmental Hospital.
2- Instructing municipalities to supervise the implementation of the procedures for self-isolation of citizens returning from contaminated areas, even though they did not show any symptoms, as well as supervising those residing with them in one residence.
3- Requesting from the ministry of health to generalize to citizens and to relevant authorities the self-isolation procedures mentioned in item 2 above.
4- Preventing the Lebanese citizens and other residents of Lebanon from traveling to the areas that recorded coronavirus.
Instructing the committee to provide the General Directorate of Public Security with a list of these areas to implement this ban in coordination with the Lebanese General Directorate of Civil Aviation, General Directorate of General Security, and the Rafic Hariri International Airport.
5- Banning travel trips to the following countries: China, South Korea, Iran, and other countries, with the exception of necessary travel cases (medicine, education, work).
Instructing the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Defense to supervise these standards in coordination with the Directorate of General Civil Aviation, the General Directorate of General Security, and the administration of the Rafic Hariri International Airport.
6- Assigning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the ministries of Tourism and Health, as well as the General Directorate of Public Security, to contact the Lebanese people in the affected areas, monitor their health conditions, coordinate with the local authorities to secure the required treatments, and provide them with the necessary guidance.
7- Mandating the ministries of economy and health to prevent the export of medical protective equipment (PPE), count the local stock thereof, and secure the import of necessary quantities.
8- Insisting on sports clubs, schools, nurseries, universities, airports, airplanes, and other places where citizens gather, to commit to the health protection measures, and the frequent sterilization, according to the Ministry of Health guidelines.
9- Assigning the Ministry of Health to allocate a governmental hospital in each governorate so it can be an exclusive center for receiving any case of coronavirus, and providing it with the required specifications and equipment.
10 – Mandating the Ministry of Information, in coordination with the Disaster Risk Management Unit of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Health, to inform the Lebanese public opinion in a transparent and periodic manner, of all procedures, decisions, and developments, respectively, in cooperation with the audio-visual and written media and social media.
11– Restricting the transportation of coronavirus cases or patients suspected of being infected with only the Lebanese Red Cross.
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