Parliament approves state of emergency in Beirut and the government extends it by one month

The Lebanese Parliament today approved the state of emergency in Beirut declared by the government last week following the devastating explosion that hit the city, and the acting executive announced its extension for another month due to an upsurge in COVID-19.

Parliament gave its approval to the declaration at its first plenary session following the explosion of around 3 000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in the port of Beirut on 4 August, and the eight days on which the government can take this measure without the backing of Parliament.

Almost at the same time, the Acting Executive Minister for Health, Hamad Hassan, announced that the state of emergency would be extended one month beyond 18 August next, when the current declaration would expire.

Hassan justified this decision in that he expected "an increase in coronavirus infections due to the crowding in hospitals after the explosion and the lack of masks and involvement in prevention measures at that time.

In addition to the extension, "we are beginning to isolate some neighborhoods, being strict about home quarantine," Hassam said.

Hassan, like the rest of the executive, including Prime Minister Hasan Diab, is in office after resigning en bloc on Monday following several days of demonstrations by thousands of Lebanese who were outraged by the actions of their leaders.

Lebanon had already declared a state of emergency on 15 March because of the COVID-19 pandemic but had been relaxing measures due to the low incidence of the disease in the country.

However, for the past two weeks, cases have begun to rebound and this week has seen several records with a peak of more than 300 infections last Tuesday.

In addition, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), slightly more than half of the health centers and at least three of the largest hospitals in Beirut have been shut down by the explosion, which left more than 170 dead and 6,000 injured.