A man attempted to commit suicide on Tuesday by jumping from a bridge in Bourj Hammoud neighborhood in an apparent link to the country’s deepening economic downturn.

The man jumped from the bridge but was lucky to survive, said the National News Agency quoting the Civil Defense team who rescued the man.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim described his recent visit to Kuwait as “positive,” noting that Kuwaiti officials expressed “readiness to help Lebanon,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday.

After Beirut went into lockdown in March, Walid Ataya returned to his bakery, pizzeria and wine room each morning, perching on a stool at the sidewalk bar to maintain an outpost of commerce and consider his next moves.

Before the pandemic, Lebanon faced an economic crisis rooted in years of government mismanagement and corruption that had sparked nationwide protests. Ataya, who fled when Israel invaded in the mid-1980s, had no intention of leaving again.

Lebanon recorded 85 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan announced Monday that the government has no imminent plans to reimpose a broad lockdown despite the spike in coronavirus cases.

“The airport and the country won’t be shut down, life will go on and the measures must be followed responsibly,” Hasan said.

Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc on Monday lodged an official complaint with Lebanon's Foreign Ministry over recent statements made by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim’s ongoing visit to Kuwait reflects “a serious attempt to rescue the country,” informed sources said.

“The visit’s atmosphere is positive and it is aimed at organizing means that contribute to overcoming the crisis,” sources informed on the visit told LBCI television.

A soldier was killed overnight as an army patrol and several military posts came under fire in the Baalbek district.

“Around 12:45 am, a number of gunmen opened fire at an army patrol and military posts in Talya, Brital, al-Khodr and Douris, which resulted in the martyrdom of a soldier who was passing in the area,” an army statement said.

Lebanon on Sunday witnessed the highest daily tally of confirmed coronavirus cases since the first case was recorded on February 21.

In its daily statement, the Health Ministry said the country recorded 166 cases over the past 24 hours, among them 158 residents and eight expats.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday launched new stern warnings related to Lebanon’s compounded and unprecedented economic, financial and political crisis.

“The Lebanese reject that any popular or parliamentary majority tamper with the Constitution, the National Pact and the law, or with Lebanon’s cultural model,” al-Rahi said in his Sunday Mass sermon.