Lebanon went into lockdown Monday after the government announced a two-week state of “general mobilization” and ordered the closure of public and private institutions as well as the country’s airport and land and sea ports of entry.

Traffic was thin across the country and in some cases streets were completely empty on Monday, the start of the working week. Restaurants, cafes and bars have been closed since last week and most private businesses were also shuttered Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is declaring the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency, as Washington struggles with providing Americans with relief and officials race to slow the spread of the outbreak.

Speaking from the Rose Garden, Trump said, "I am officially declaring a national emergency." He said it would free up as much as $50 billion for state and local governments to respond to the outbreak. Trump also waived interest on federally held student loans and moved to prop up energy markets, by directing the Department of Energy to buy oil to fill the strategic petroleum reserve "right up to the top."

Religious authorities moved to cancel or limit weekly prayer gatherings in Lebanon on Friday to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as they encouraged the faithful to pray for those afflicted by the global pandemic.

Friday prayers have been temporarily suspended in all Shiite mosques.

A spike in cases in the Gulf Arab states helped push infections in the Middle East for the new coronavirus past 10,000 cases on Thursday, with most infected people either in Iran or having recently traveled there.

Iran has asked for an emergency $5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to combat the outbreak there, which has killed more than 360 people and infected some 9,000 people in the Islamic Republic. Iran's Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said Thursday he made the request last week in a letter to IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva. The international lender has said it stands ready to support countries through a Rapid Financial Instrument.

Lebanon on Thursday recorded its third coronavirus death one day after the country received a flight from Iran despite the Cabinet announcement that flights from countries hit hardest by the novel virus were suspended.

Lebanon has recorded 66 cases of COVID-19 according to the health ministry.

As outbreaks of the new coronavirus that first emerged in China continue to spread in more than 100 countries — particularly those experiencing winter — one of the biggest unanswered questions is how it will behave in warmer weather.

Like influenza, the new disease is a respiratory infection belonging to a family of viruses that typically survive longer in colder environments. Most people experience only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, but older adults and people with existing health problems may have more severe illnesses, including pneumonia.

As 2019 gave way to 2020 in a cloud of tear gas, and in some cases a hail of bullets, from Hong Kong to Baghdad, from Beirut to Barcelona and Santiago, it seemed civil disobedience and government crackdowns on protests would dominate the international landscape.

Then came the coronavirus.

Iran's senior vice president and two other Cabinet members have contracted the new coronavirus, a semiofficial news agency reported Wednesday as the death toll in the Islamic Republic from the outbreak rose by 62 to 354.

The report by the Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, comes as President Hassan Rouhani took control of the country's much-criticized response to the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes. Authorities announced that there were some 9,000 confirmed cases of the virus across Iran.

Credit ratings agency Moody's warned Tuesday that Lebanon's first-ever default on paying its sovereign debt will likely lead to significant losses for private creditors as well as serious implications for the country's banking sector.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Saturday said the government will suspend payment of $1.2 billion in loans that matured Monday. Diab said Lebanon's foreign currency reserves "have reached a critical stage," leading the government to suspend its debt payment so it can continue providing basic commodities to the Lebanese people.

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ISSF International Solidarity Championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Feb. 22-28 postponed.