Medical and health crews belonging to the Health Ministry are examining all those arriving from Syria via Lebanon’s northern border crossings as a precaution against the spread of the novel coronavirus, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Monday.

NNA said the measures are being taken in coordination with UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan on Monday canceled a planned visit to the Rafik Hariri International Airport that had been scheduled for 4:50 pm, his office said.

The office did not elaborate on the reason.

A large number of residents in the Baalbek town of Brital refrained from sending their children to schools on Monday as a precautionary measure, state-run National News Agency reported.

The residents took the precautionary move “because 10 of the town’s residents were on an Iranian plane” that landed in Beirut, NNA said.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Monday defended the rights of journalists for free speech, shortly after a journalist got assaulted at Beirut airport while reporting about flights from Iran amid cornoavirus threats.

Health Minister Hamad Hasan assured on Monday that precautionary measures taken by Lebanese authorities to prevent the deadly Coronavirus infection have been taken in Lebanon in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Another plane coming from Iran landed Monday at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport despite the outbreak of coronavirus in the Islamic Republic prompting neighboring countries to close their borders.

The National News Agency said that precautions were put in place for the evacuation mission and that passengers and crew were subject to examination to manage coronavirus transmission risk.

At a two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and France have expressed willingness to support crisis-hit Lebanon, the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported on Monday.

A man hurled a hand grenade Sunday at his brothers inside an apartment in the northern city of Tripoli.

The National News Agency said the man, M. Shahoud, and four of his brothers were wounded in the explosion.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday told an International Monetary Fund delegation that Lebanon is “keen on being committed to the required drastic reforms on all levels to guarantee the success of the reform process and regain confidence in Lebanon.”

The National News Agency said the meeting involved “a lengthy and detailed discussion of the financial and economic situations” as Berri described the talks as “good.”

Health Minister Hamad Hasan announced Sunday that 27 people in Lebanon have tested negative for the novel coronavirus, three days after he announced the country’s first case of the disease.

“The health ministry is continuing its efforts to quickly identify any case showing the symptoms of coronavirus among the ranks of citizens coming from abroad,” Hasan told the National News Agency.