Lebanon eases lockdown measures under economic pressure

Lebanese authorities on Monday started to gradually ease the strict lockdown measures against COVID-19 under huge economic pressure, reported Xinhua. Meanwhile, Iran's Health Ministry reported 7,321 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,473,756.

Lebanese authorities decided to start a four-phase plan to reopen several sections in the country as total lockdown dealt a heavy blow to the economy.

Representatives of businesses in the country have been calling upon authorities to scale down the lockdown measures and allow them to operate and be able to survive amid the deteriorating economic situation.

However, Firas Abiad, director of the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, said that extending the lockdown for another week is preferable because the infection rate of COVID-19 has remained stubbornly high, which means the virus is still actively spreading in the community.

Abiad noted that easing the lockdown will result in reversing the downward trend and numbers will quickly rebound.

He admits that extending lockdown is not a popular decision that will lead to suffering, but the premature easing of restrictions will yield worse results.

Lebanon recorded on Monday 2,063 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases to 321,980, the Health Ministry reported. The death toll from the virus increased by 61 to 3,677.

Iran's Health Ministry reported 7,321 daily COVID-19 cases on Monday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,473,756.

The pandemic has so far claimed 58,536 lives in Iran, up by 67 in the past 24 hours. A total of 1,260,045 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 3,778 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said.

The ministry also announced that the COVID-19 vaccination in Iran will begin on Tuesday. Iran received the first batch of Russia-made COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V on Feb. 4.

Also on Monday, Israel's Ministry of Health reported 7,594 new COVID-19 cases, raising the tally of confirmed cases in the country to 696,528.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 5,171 after 74 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 1,102 to 1,097, out of 1,714 hospitalized patients.

The total recoveries rose to 623,313, with 5,494 newly recovered cases, while the active cases rose to 68,044.

The number of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 3.51 million, or 37.7 percent of the total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

Turkey reported 8,103 new COVID-19 cases, including 632 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,539,559, according to its health ministry.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 103 to 26,900, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,449,273 after 8,567 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours.

The country started mass vaccination of health workers against COVID-19 on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine. More than 2,694,000 people have been vaccinated so far.

The Iraqi Health Ministry reported on Monday 1,713 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily infections since the beginning of 2021, bringing the tally to 630,263.

It also reported six new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,126, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 848 to 601,041.

The ministry has frequently attributed the increase of COVID-19 infections to the public's failure to comply with health instructions.

Earlier, the Iraqi health ministry said the Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs had approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm and Britain's AstraZeneca vaccines to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Morocco's total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 475,589 on Monday after 234 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, the death toll mounted to 8,408 as 14 COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, 550,149 people have been vaccinated so far against COVID-19 in the country.

The Qatari Health Ministry on Monday announced 427 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 154,525.

Kuwait reported on Monday 996 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 171,994 and the death toll to 969, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry announced.

The ministry also announced the recovery of 582 more patients, taking the total recoveries in Kuwait to 162,120. Meanwhile, it said that 8,905 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment.

During a visit to a health center that was opened on Sunday as a COVID-19 vaccination center, the Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah said that the majority of the COVID-19 vaccinations in the country is expected to be completed by September.

Kuwait launched on Dec. 24, 2020 the national vaccination campaign against the COVID-19.