Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan highlighted the necessity on Monday to impose nationwide lockdown amid the sharp rise in the number of coronavirus infection cases in Lebanon.

Marada Movement chief Sleiman Franjeih vented at the Free Patriotic Movement and newly US sanctioned ex-minister Jebran Bassil, saying the latter was right to say that US sanctions unveil “corrupt” officials in Lebanon, in a jab at Bassil.

Amid a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in Lebanon, the country is weighing a total 15-day nationwide lockdown starting Thursday in an effort to stem the surge in coronavirus cases, media reports said Monday.

Three people were injured Sunday in an explosion blamed on "welding" works in the southern town of Zefta.

The National News Agency said a Syrian man who was carrying out the welding and his uncle in addition to a young boy were injured in the incident.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri on Sunday congratulated Democrat veteran Joe Biden on his election as the 46th president of the United States.

In a tweet, Hariri also congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday linked the latest U.S. sanctions that were imposed on him to his alliance with Hizbullah, as he vowed that the FPM will confront any “elimination” attempt in the cabinet formation process.

The Free Patriotic Movement denounced in a statement on Saturday the US Treasury sanctions imposed on its leader and former minister Jebran Bassil.

The FPM said sanctions on the President’s son-in-law, Bassil are only part of a “slander campaign,” and that a US domestic law is being “exploited to retaliate against a political leader for complying to his principles, convictions, and national choices.”

President Michel asked Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs to obtain the evidence and documents that prompted the US Treasury to impose sanctions against his son-in-law and former minister Jebran Bassil, the Presidency press office of Aoun said on Saturday.

Al-Mustaqbal Parliamentary bloc MP Samir el-Jisr assured that PM-designate Saad Hariri is still working “under the guidance” of the French initiative, and will not step back from his mission to form a government despite a stalemate, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported on Saturday.

“Hariri is working on easing all the obstacles facing the formation process, which currently seem linked to naming the ministers,” for ministerial portfolios, said Jisr.

Hizbullah on Friday condemned the U.S. sanctions on Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil as “a purely political decision and a blatant and insolent interference in Lebanon’s domestic affairs.”

“The United States, which is the sponsor of terrorism and extremism in the world, is the last side that has the right to talk about combating corruption,” the party said in a statement.