Third Coronavirus Case Confirmed in Lebanon

Lebanon on Thursday confirmed its third coronavirus case, saying the person infected is an Iranian man.

A statement issued by the Health Ministry said the 77-year-old Iranian had arrived in Lebanon aboard an Iranian plane that landed in Beirut on February 24.

“He was brought from his home via the Lebanese Red Cross once he showed minor symptoms and he is currently in an isolation room at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital,” the statement said, adding that his condition is “stable.”

Lebanon’s first two infected people – two Lebanese women -- had arrived aboard another Iranian plane earlier this month.

Thousands of Lebanese travel to Iran every year to visit Shiite holy sites in Qom and other cities.

The Rafik Hariri University Hospital, a state-run hospital in Beirut, meanwhile announced Thursday that it examined 40 people for the virus over the past 24 hours, keeping nine of them in the coronavirus ward and asking the others to isolate themselves at home.

“35 people meanwhile underwent lab tests and tested negative as eight people were discharged from the coronavirus isolation ward and asked to stay home for 14 days after they tested negative twice,” the hospital added.

“Until the moment, there are 12 cases in the quarantine zone, knowing that they have tested negative,” the hospital said, adding that the three infected people in the isolation unit are “in a stable condition and are receiving the necessary treatment.”