Business as Usual as Some Tripoli Areas Defy Lockdown
Heavy traffic and pedestrian movement was witnessed Friday in some impoverished areas of the northern city of Tripoli despite the government’s lockdown order over the coronavirus crisis, state-run National News Agency reported.
NNA said the popular souks in Mahram, Bab al-Tabbaneh, al-Qobbeh and Abi Samra were bustling with people as street vendors spread their chariots and some citizens gathered around coffee kiosks.
Others meanwhile flocked heavily to the vegetable market as car repair and parts shops opened normally.
Crowding was also recording in the Mahram area, especially inside and outside major supermarkets, where no precaution measures were observed, NNA said.
Scores of worshippers meanwhile performed the Muslim Friday prayer inside and outside some mosques, despite calls by religious authorities for believers to pray in their homes.
The agency said the majority of people on the streets were not wearing masks or gloves.
Relatives of Islamist prisoners meanwhile staged a march across the city in which they condemned the release of former Khiyam Prison warden Amer Fakhoury and demanded a general amnesty.
Lebanon has so far confirmed 163 COVID-19 coronavirus cases among them four deaths.
On Sunday, the government declared a two-week state of “general mobilization,” closing the country’s air, land and sea ports of entry and ordering the closure of all non-essential public and private institutions.
Citizens and residents were meanwhile asked to stay home unless it is extremely necessary to go out.
President Michel Aoun and the army on Friday called on citizens and residents to respect the lockdown and stay home.
Source: Naharnet
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