Monday, Lebanese authorities announced that a total lockdown will be imposed across the country starting Thursday until Feb. 1 after a huge increase in the number of daily COVID-19 cases.

The caretaker Minister of Health Hamad Hassan said that the coronavirus situation in Lebanon is deteriorating and hospitals are running of beds for COVID-19 patients, among other medical equipment.

Notably, Lebanon was one of the first Middle Eastern countries to record cases of the mutated COVID-19 virus, which is said to spread up to 70 percent more rapidly than the original strain. 

Lebanon has recorded 192,139 coronavirus cases and 1,512 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.