Fahmi Warns Businesses against Defying Lockdown

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Tuesday warned that any private businesses and institutions that defy the coronavirus lockdown would face fines and judicial prosecution.

“The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities warns that it will not be lenient in enforcing the law against the violators,” Fahmi said in a statement, noting that “the issue is related to public safety and the health of all citizens amid the alarming increase in the number of pandemic cases and deaths.”

A representative of Lebanon's hospitality sector said earlier on Tuesday that service and tourism businesses would defy the newly reinstated coronavirus lockdown that has compounded the blast-hit country's economic woes.

"From tomorrow, we will open our doors," said Tony Ramy, head of the syndicate of owners of restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and pastry shops.

"The arbitrary and demagogic decision to close down, whether partially or fully, does not concern us anymore," he said in a televised statement from a Beirut street heavily affected by the August 4 explosion.

An AFP photographer said dozens of people gathered in support of the announcement, some holding signs that read "Tourism is the pulse of Lebanon" and "For us, the state vanished with the blast."

The declaration, made on behalf of a wider tourism body also representing hotels and seaside resorts, came four days after authorities imposed a two-week coronavirus lockdown to stem a string of record daily infections.