Ever since the first coronavirus case has been confirmed in Lebanon on February 21st, the Lebanese government has been following up on health developments and taking all the necessary precautions and measures to prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
On Saturday, February 28th, a day after the fourth case of coronavirus was confirmed at the Governmental Rafic Hariri University Hospital, the ministers of education and health decided that all educational institutions must close down for a week as a precaution.
“Dr. Tariq Al Majzoub requests all educational institutions from kindergartens, schools, high schools, vocational institutes, and universities to close their doors starting from the morning of Saturday, February 29th, 2020, until Sunday evening, March 8th, 2020,” the statement announced.
From her side, Hilda Khoury, Director of Guidance and Counseling at the Ministry of Education confirmed that the closure of educational institutions for a week is a precaution.
She issued her statement after coordination between the Ministers of Health and Education, stressing that there are no corona cases so far in any educational institution.
Khoury explained, in an interview with LBCI, that this procedure is to know how the virus spreads and to ensure that there won’t be any internal transmission of it.
She noted that preventive measures will be taken again at the reopening of schools and all educational institutions will be sterilized.
Lebanon announced the first coronavirus case on February 21st after the patient arrived in Lebanon aboard the controversial Iranian plane that landed in Beirut on Thursday, February 20th.
The number of cases has started to increase, reaching 10 cases on Sunday, March 1st, and 3 more were confirmed on Monday, March 2nd, making the total count 13 to date.
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