Lebanon began Thursday, January 14, the first day of a particularly strict confinement imposed by the authorities for eleven days, in order to slow the progression of cases of the new coronavirus.
In summary, and without playing on words: this confinement is a 24-hour curfew that came into effect until January 25.
The Lebanese officially cannot leave their homes during this lockdown, not even for food shopping or exercise.
Supermarkets are only open to make deliveries only.
“
Our situation is deteriorating a little more every day.
It's quite difficult, you can hear ambulances going through town a lot, so it's really scary,
”explains Zeina, an entrepreneur, anxious to respect the instructions.
Daily life is therefore transformed.
Hanane, who lives in the district of Mousseitbeh, says: "
We made reservations so as not to have to go out, the butcher downstairs from my house, for example, was overwhelmed, he told me he slept in his shop to answer. at the controls
”.
Delivery has been a common practice for a long time in Lebanon, the service is thus controlled and makes it possible not to go out.
The deserted streets of the Hamra district in Beirut on Sunday January 17, 2021. LE FIGARO
“
For 4 days, we have been at home.
We made provisions to keep up, we take our troubles patiently,
”says Antoine *, a 50-year-old Frenchman living in Lebanon since the early 1990s. He, his wife and their two children live in the Hamra neighborhood where the containment seems respected.
Lebanon on Friday recorded a new daily record of deaths and contamination due to Covid-19 - 44 dead and 6,100 cases -, and many hospitals are saturated.
At the scale of France, this would correspond to several tens of thousands of cases per day.
The streets of Beirut are now almost empty, the country being under total curfew 24 hours a day.
JOSEPH EID / AFP
Schools have not closed - unlike previous confinements - and lessons are thus given by videoconference.
“
It allows children not to be inactive.
We adapt, we have to go through this to get by,
”continues the expatriate.
Travel certificates - to go to the pharmacist, to a doctor or to the airport - are possible by sending an SMS or by filling out an online form set up by the authorities.
Some exceptions are foreseen for the movement of health personnel, journalists and employees of the food sector.
"
We have the right to go out for 1 hour after receiving the SMS, so we take the opportunity to go for a walk,
" explains Antoine.
This strict confinement is justified by the virtual saturation of the hospital sector which is already under strong pressure due to the economic and financial crisis and the political instability that the country is going through.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed occupancy rates were close to limits.
In intensive care, this rate is now 90.47% in most of the country and 100% in Beirut, according to the WHO office in Lebanon.
Several hospitals have publicly announced that their services are saturated.
In recent days, residents have flocked to supermarkets and pharmacies for supplies.
MOHAMED AZAKIR / REUTERS
The current outbreak of the virus is likely due to the easing of restrictions during the holiday season, with restaurants, bars and nightclubs open until late at night, among others.
Some fear that the strict measures now in force will worsen the already largely precarious living conditions of vulnerable families.
Half of the population lives below the poverty line.
In the meantime, the country hopes to receive its first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in mid-February to cope.
Read also: Covid-19: poor and emerging countries, the forgotten in the vaccine race
* The first name has been changed.
