Fears a new COVID wave could overwhelm Lebanon’s health system

The number of new daily cases surpasses 500 for the first time since May amid concerns over spread of the Delta variant.

Beirut, Lebanon – Doctors have warned that hospitals in Lebanon would struggle to cope with a large influx of coronavirus patients amid a surge in the number of new cases spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant. Lebanon recorded 577 new COVID-19 infections in a 24-hour period on Friday, according to the health ministry, the first time that more than 500 daily cases have been reported since May. The number of new cases recorded on Saturday was slightly lower, with 488 new confirmed infections, bringing the total number of cases since the beginning of the outbreak to 550,492. Dubbed as the “fastest and fittest” of the coronavirus variants by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Delta variant is highly transmissible and has spread to dozens of countries around the world.