Chairman of Lebanon’s national carrier Mohammed Hout said on Thursday that MEA airlines is capable of overcoming the crisis after Lebanon’s airport was ordered closed for two weeks over coronavirus fears.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said that WHO Director General has described coronavirus as an “enemy against humanity,” which makes it crucial that we all join efforts to stop its spread.

Salim Sfeir, the head of the Association of Banks in Lebanon, has said that a default on the country’s Eurobond debt “could have been avoided.”

In an interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday, Sfeir criticized the government, saying the default was “handled in a non-professional manner.”

Cellphone shops will be closed in Lebanon and the validity of prepaid lines will be extended by a month due to the coronavirus crisis, the telecom minister said on Wednesday.

“An additional one-month grace period will be given to the subscribers of the Alfa and touch firms for paying their bills,” Talal Hawat told al-Jadeed TV.

Drivers of passenger vans on Wednesday blocked the Tripoli-Beirut highway for a second day after the government barred them from operating as part of a two-week coronavirus lockdown.

The National News Agency said the drivers blocked the road in the Palma area twice on Wednesday, after having blocked it on Tuesday.

An Internal Security Forces member who hails from the eastern border town of al-Qaa has tested positive for coronavirus, the town’s municipality said on Wednesday.

“ISF First Adjutant A.D., who hails from al-Qaa, has tested positive for coronavirus,” the municipality said in a statement.

A woman who died Wednesday shortly after arriving at the coronavirus emergency section of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital was not suffering from pneumonia and the result of her coronavirus test will be released on Thursday, RHUH said.

“She was suffering from breathlessness and she died after suffering a severe drop in blood pressure and a heart failure,” the hospital said in a statement, noting that the woman had chronic heart problems according to medical diagnosis.

The press office of Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi assured in a statement on Wednesday that no coronavirus cases were registered among members of the security forces or in Lebanon's jails.

Lebanon registered its fourth death from coronavirus, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said the cabinet will likely approve the capital control law during its next meeting, with emphasis on protecting the rights of depositors, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.