Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni met with the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis who reiterated the international agency's support for Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Foreign Minister Nasif Hitti summoned the US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and listened to an explanation on how Amer Fakhoury was carried away out of the country from the U.S. embassy, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

The Health Ministry released on Friday its daily report on the tally of people infected with coronavirus saying the total number has reached 163 stressing the need for self quarantine.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan on Friday said after a joint meeting with the parliamentary health committee that Lebanon is preparing for stage four in its fight against coronavirus after registering six cases of unknown origin, stressing the need for community cooperation to stop its spread.

U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that former Khiyam Prison warden Amer Fakhoury was released Thursday to the United States, where he is a naturalized citizen.

Trump said that Fakhoury, a former member of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army militia who was detained on his return to Beirut in September, was suffering late-stage cancer. He added that Fakhoury “will now be able to receive the much needed care and treatment in the United States."

The Lebanese government will distribute aid to citizens who have become out of work due to the lockdown over the coronavirus crisis, Information Minister Manal Abdul Samad announced on Thursday after a Cabinet session.

“PM (Hassan) Diab spoke of the need to open a bank account for social aid donations aimed at helping citizens who have become out of work, and in this regard he announced that there are preparations to distribute food aid in the various regions, through the High Relief Council, municipalities or local donators,” Abdul Samad said.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan on Thursday asked Cabinet to isolate the Jbeil and Keserwan regions over a rise in coronavirus cases there and said his request may later include Baabda and Northern Metn should the need arise, TV networks said.

Hasan himself confirmed to reporters that he called for isolating “two regions” but noted that the government did not agree to his request.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry on Thursday released its daily report on the COVID-19 saying the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases has reached 149.

UN chief Antonio Guterres conveyed solidarity with Lebanon during the “difficult” circumstances the world and the Midetteranean country are going through, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.

The government held a regular meeting at Baabda Palace to discuss eleven items on its agenda mainly tackling a draft law on capital control, the electricity file and economic and financial issues, the National News Agency reported on Thursday.