Abdullah: Lebanon Must Declare Public Health Emergency

Progressive Socialist Party MP Bilal Abdullah voiced calls on Saturday to declare a “public health emergency” after the health minister’s announcement that the COVID-19 virus is no longer in the containment phase.

“Now that the health minister declared the virus is no longer in containment phase, it has become necessary to declare public health emergency,” said Abdullah in a tweet.

He said the declaration marshals “army troops to monitor the terminals at the airport, port and borders,” in response to the situation, and “establishing isolation and treatment centers in the governorates, enhancing human and material epidemiological surveillance, and ensuring free laboratory testing of the virus."