Lebanon enters new lockdown amid socio-economic collapse

By Nathan Morley

This is the third lockdown in Lebanon since last March.

The population of 6million is also subject to a new curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 am.

Eateries are closed for dining, and schools and universities will conduct lessons online.

The lockdown will run for the next three weeks, and comes after a surge of cases in the country.

Over 2,800 new infections were recorded on Sunday, bringing its total to 189,278 cases since February last year.

The government says the health system is under considerable strain. The country will import 2 million doses of a vaccine by next month, which will be enough to immunize up to 20 percent of the population.

To compound matters, Lebanon is suffering from record high unemployment levels, sluggish growth and one of the highest debt ratios anywhere in the Middle East.