Two aircrafts of the Qatari Emiri Air Force arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Wednesday carrying two field hospitals for Tyre and Tripoli regions.
According to LBCI news, the two planes were received at the airport by Caretaker Minister of Public Health Hamad Hassan, and other senior Qatari and Lebanese officials.
Hassan thanked the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, as well as the Qatari government and people for this initiative. He also applauded the efforts of Qatari Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Jaber Al-Jaber for his assistance helping Lebanon confront the grave threat of the Coronavirus.
“Qatar has recently provided two field hospitals to Al-Roum and Jeitaoui Hospitals,” Hassan said, noting that the State of Qatar is confident in Lebanon’s national unity through equally distributing its aid to various regions.
He also thanked the Lebanese army for their help, emphasizing that “its presence gives the Lebanese safety and assuredness.”
The Minister continued on to express his hope that, during the two-week lockdown, the readiness of government hospitals would increase. He also wished upon responsible steps from private hospitals.
In response to a question about not including the airport in the general lockdown, Minister Hassan said: “The cases that are being recorded are two per thousand at the airport, meaning that during the day, ten or twelve positive cases enter the country through the airport. In the midst of an economic and social meltdown, we cannot ignore the take of the relevant authorities and ministries on this situation.”
Nonetheless, Minister Hassan reassured that “there’s an additional obligation regarding airport arrivals, which is to stay in quarantine for a week after arrival regardless of the PCR result.”
