Lebanon enforces 3-day COVID lockdown

(MENAFN - Jordan News Agency) Beirut, Apr 3 (Petra) �� Lebanon Saturday morning began enforcing a blanket three-day lockdown to curb contact ahead of the holidays amid a marked surge in coronavirus infections and deaths in the country.Authorities said the closure and curfew over the Easter holiday is to avoid a re-run of Christmas and New Year festivities in the country, which saw new records of COVID-19 infections.Lebanese security forces said in a statement they were banning movement during the period from 5:00 am Saturday till Tuesday dawn with the exception of vital sectors exempted from the closure order.Police deployed patrols and set up checkpoints across the nation, and threatened legal action against those flouting the lockdown order, while stressing the mandate to wear masks. Prayers in places of worship were allowed with full adherence to health and safety measures and a pass permit. In its latest report, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said it recorded 60 COVID-19 deaths and 2,963 cases in the last 24 hours.SS03/04/2021 14:41:04 MENAFN03042021000117011021ID1101854930