Al Jazeera News, Beirut :
Lebanon will ban all travel to and from 11 countries that have witnessed significant outbreaks of the coronavirus, including an immediate ban on Italy, Iran, China and South Korea.
Authorities will give a four-day grace period to Lebanese citizens, and their families who are seeking to return to Lebanon from France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Egypt and Syria before also banning all travel to and from those countries, Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced on Wednesday.
The ban includes travel by land, sea and air.
Diab’s announcement at a news conference came as Lebanon registered its second death from the coronavirus on Sunday, – a man in his 50s who reportedly had pre-existing conditions – while the total number of infections rose to 61. Conversely, Lebanon’s first registered coronavirus patient, a woman who returned from Iran in late February, was announced to be entirely free of the virus.
The global pandemic has seen more than 122,000 people infected, with deaths nearing 4,500. Many countries in the Middle East have taken similar steps of banning travel, including Saudi Arabia,
which has banned flights to and from Lebanon.
While Diab stopped short of announcing a state of emergency, he asked local authorities to prevent all large gatherings of people.
Bars, nightclubs and exhibition centres were already ordered to close over the weekend until March 15, while schools and universities have been shuttered since the beginning of March.
Lebanon will ban all travel to and from 11 countries that have witnessed significant outbreaks of the coronavirus, including an immediate ban on Italy, Iran, China and South Korea.
Authorities will give a four-day grace period to Lebanese citizens, and their families who are seeking to return to Lebanon from France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Egypt and Syria before also banning all travel to and from those countries, Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced on Wednesday.
The ban includes travel by land, sea and air.
Diab’s announcement at a news conference came as Lebanon registered its second death from the coronavirus on Sunday, – a man in his 50s who reportedly had pre-existing conditions – while the total number of infections rose to 61. Conversely, Lebanon’s first registered coronavirus patient, a woman who returned from Iran in late February, was announced to be entirely free of the virus.
The global pandemic has seen more than 122,000 people infected, with deaths nearing 4,500. Many countries in the Middle East have taken similar steps of banning travel, including Saudi Arabia,
which has banned flights to and from Lebanon.
While Diab stopped short of announcing a state of emergency, he asked local authorities to prevent all large gatherings of people.
Bars, nightclubs and exhibition centres were already ordered to close over the weekend until March 15, while schools and universities have been shuttered since the beginning of March.
