Security Forces Clear Seaside Corniche after Crowding

W460

Municipal police on Sunday cleared the landmark seaside corniche in Beirut’s Ain el-Mreisseh and Manara areas after scores of people flocked to it for strolling, jogging, swimming, fishing and other activities despite the coronavirus crisis.

A statement said Beirut Governor Ziad Chebib asked municipal police to clear the area at the instructions of Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi.

Patrols will meanwhile continue around the clock in the capital, the statement said.

Army intelligence agents meanwhile asked citizens to leave the Dbaye seaside corniche according to media reports.

The country’s health authorities have warned against gatherings and the government is poised to declare a health emergency and general mobilization.

Lebanon has so far confirmed 99 coronavirus cases including three deaths, according to a Health Ministry statement issued at noon Sunday.

Educational institutions, restaurants, nightclubs, pubs, cafes, exhibitions, parks, cinemas, malls and other gathering venues have been closed since several days as part of the measures against the virus.

Lebanon has also banned flights from eleven hardly hit countries, with critics lamenting that the decision came too late.

SourceNaharnet
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