BY REBECCA COLLARD – Foreignpolicy.com —BEIRUT—Dozens of journalists piled into a convoy of Hezbollah-arranged vehicles on Tuesday to be transported to the movement’s newest front line: the fight against the coronavirus. Nearby, a line of dozens of paramedics stood ready but completely idle, posed in front of some of the 70 ambulances Hezbollah says it has prepared for epidemic. Trucks and men on foot from the Islamic Health Society sprayed the streets with disinfectant, filling the neighborhood of Borj el-Barajneh with the smell of chlorine. “Hezbollah is the only one doing anything. The government isn’t doing anything,” said one bystander, Hussein Zaaiter, sitting on a cement step watching the crowd of journalists next to the long row of posed paramedics and ambulances. “You can see these ambulances. You can see them disinfecting the streets.”

Zaaiter sat just a foot from his friend. Neither was wearing masks or gloves. Many on the streets of Borj el-Barajneh lingered around without masks or gloves, and pairs of young men zipped by on scooters, pressed up against each other sharing the seat. Hezbollah has also launched a large-scale awareness campaign. Others in the neighborhood seem split on who is doing what. Some say the Lebanese government is doing a good job of responding to the pandemic, but many complain of a complete lack of assistance from anyone as they face the double whammy of the coronavirus and a collapsing economy.

So far Lebanon has confirmed about 460 cases of the coronavirus and 11 deaths. The government, which includes Hezbollah, has declared a state of medical emergency, urged people to stay home, and sent the army to the streets to enforce it. But there is a very real concern that the country’s medical system will collapse under an outbreak. Lebanon has good doctors and hospitals, but the medical system is highly privatized, and the public system is poorly funded and suffers from the same sort of clientelism and patronage practices of most Lebanese institutions. Even in regular times, many Lebanese rely on the health services provided by political parties, rather than the government. The economic crisis has weakened it all. The government even put out a call to Lebanese expats to donate, including IBAN numbers for accounts in U.S. dollars and other currencies. In this new crisis, Hezbollah and Lebanon’s other traditional parties have a fresh opportunity to fill a void left by the state. And Hezbollah is stepping into the breach. “We have shed our blood in resistance, and we will not surrender in front of this epidemic,” said Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah’s representative for Beirut District, as he outlined the steps his organization is taking to prepare for the virus.

by washingtonpost.com –by Bill Gates — There’s no question the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the novel coronavirus. But the window for making important decisions hasn’t closed. The choices we and our leaders make now will have an enormous impact on how soon case numbers start to go down, how long the economy remains shut down and how many Americans will have to bury a loved one because of covid-19. Through my work with the Gates Foundation, I’ve spoken with experts and leaders in Washington and across the country. It’s become clear to me that we must take three steps. First, we need a consistent nationwide approach to shutting down. Despite urging from public health experts, some states and counties haven’t shut down completely. In some states, beaches are still open; in others, restaurants still serve sit-down meals.

This is a recipe for disaster. Because people can travel freely across state lines, so can the virus. The country’s leaders need to be clear: Shutdown anywhere means shutdown everywhere. Until the case numbers start to go down across America — which could take 10 weeks or more — no one can continue business as usual or relax the shutdown. Any confusion about this point will only extend the economic pain, raise the odds that the virus will return, and cause more deaths. Second, the federal government needs to step up on testing. Far more tests should be made available. We should also aggregate the results so we can quickly identify potential volunteers for clinical trials and know with confidence when it’s time to return to normal. There are good examples to follow: New York state recently expanded its capacity to up to more than 20,000 tests per day. There’s also been some progress on more efficient testing methods, such as the self-swab developed by the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network, which allows patients to take a sample themselves without possibly exposing a health worker. I hope this and other innovations in testing are scaled up across the country soon.

by npr.org — High above the Mediterranean Sea, up a mountain wreathed in springtime mist and drizzle, is the monastery where the beloved Lebanese St. Charbel is buried. A hermit who died in 1898, Charbel was canonized in 1977. He is revered for his healing miracles among Lebanon’s Christians, who likely number at least a million. In a country where a financial crisis has left health care threadbare and unreliable, many have begun turning to the saint to ward off the coronavirus. “He gives us faith and strength, especially in this time of sickness,” said Elie Badr, standing by the tomb outside the monastery earlier this month. “He is the only cure, in my opinion.”

A museum in the monastery’s crypt exhibits prostheses and calipers — left behind by people who prayed to Charbel and recovered. The monastery itself is nearly 200 years old and follows the traditions of the Lebanese Maronite Order of monks, founded in 1695. Badr wore a mask, kept his distance and held a small bag of mud, which he had just scooped up with a spoon from the grave. He planned to boil it up at home. “St. Charbel instructed that the soil be boiled and drunk as it is a medicine,” he said. He planned to give it to his elderly aunt and mother to drink. His faith in the saint is profound, but he also believes in medical science: he is an X-ray technician in a hospital. “We try as much as we can to help the sick and provide them with services,” he said. “And with the strength of St. Charbel, we are able to do our part.”

by Massoud A. Derhally and Khaled Yacoub Oweis — Abdul Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president who turned against President Bashar Al Assad’s rule but was largely shunned by the opposition, died on Tuesday in France. His son Jihad confirmed Khaddam’s death to The National from Istanbul. Khaddam was 88 years old. Salah Ayach, a close friend to Khaddam in exile, said he died at 5am of a heart attack. The former vice-president fled Syria after the killing of his Lebanese ally Rafik Hariri in February 2005. A UN investigation implicated senior Syrian security officials in the killing, and an international tribunal in the Netherlands indicted several Hezbollah operatives who are being tried in absentia.

Once seen as a possible successor to Hafez, instead he helped Bashar tighten his grip on power after he took office in June 2000. In the days following the elder Assad’s death, Khaddam pushed through decrees elevating Bashar’s military rank to general and making him commander of the armed forces — key moves in the uncertain process of succession. Khaddam went to Beirut to pay condolences to Hariri’s family. He was the only Syrian official at the mourning and by the end of 2005 he relocated to Paris. UN investigators interviewed Khaddam as part of their probe into the assassination as someone with near unmatched insight of the functioning of the Syrian regime. A Baath Party stalwart, Khaddam was a provincial governor in charge of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Hafez Al Assad was defence minister at the time. The loss of the Golan to Israel did not prevent Hafez Al Assad from becoming president in 1970. Khaddam, a close ally of the new president, became foreign minister and the Syrian regime’s softer face of its divide and conquer approach to Lebanon. He set up in France an opposition coalition to the regime that was buoyed by the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, expecting the repercussions to weaken Bashar Al Assad. A few months into the Syrian revolt, which broke out in March 2011, Khaddam said: “If the international community does not react to stop these crimes and protect civilians, the Syrians will be forced to take up arms to defend themselves.”