by middleeasteye.net — By Kareem Chehayeb — Lebanese nationals stranded abroad amid the coronavirus pandemic may have to pay exorbitant prices to return home, with economy tickets costing as much as $1,800, a diplomatic source told Middle East Eye. According to another source close to the country’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines, flights are expected to commence on 5 April and are priced in US dollars, ranging from $650-1,800 in economy class, and $1,300-3,900 in business. MEE spoke to more than 15 Lebanese nationals who had applied to return home since the country imposed a travel ban on 15 March. Several said they were left to fend for themselves without proper guidance or assistance from relevant authorities.

With the Lebanese currency, the lira, losing almost 50 percent of its value in recent months, a decision by the country’s banks to restrict US dollar withdrawals and transfers abroad further compounded their problems. In an attempt to address the confusion, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad told reporters on Wednesday that Lebanon would begin “three or four flights” from “three or four countries” on 5 April, however, she did not mention pricing. According to MEE’s source, the flights will repatriate nationals from Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. None of the nationals MEE spoke to were notified that they would have to pay for their flights home.

Hesitant to repatriate nationals

Lebanon’s fragile government has been hesitant to implement a repatriation plan, fearing further cases of the coronavirus. However, the cabinet was spurred into action following political pressure from several political leaders, including Speaker Nabih Berri, who threatened to suspend his party’s’ participation in the government if the stranded nationals were not brought home. Lebanon closed its international airport on 15 March, and has since renewed that lockdown for another two weeks, extending it into mid-April. Many of the Lebanese citizens interviewed by MEE said they were unable to get flights during a four-day grace period after the initial closure or did not anticipate the situation getting worse in their respective countries. According to local French newspaper L’Orient Le Jour, about 22,000 Lebanese had submitted forms on the Foreign Ministry’s website over the past 14 days to return to Lebanon.

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.”

by arabnews.com — NAJIA HOUSSARI — BEIRUT: Lebanese quarantine rules were broken on Monday with hundreds heading to banks to collect their salaries in northern and southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army closed shops in violation of the shutdown laws in a Hezbollah security zone in the southern suburb of Beirut. The violations came as eight new confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were recorded in Lebanon on Sunday and Monday. However, this low number was not shared by the director of the Hariri Governmental University Hospital, Dr. Firas Al-Abyad, as most of the laboratories operate at half capacity on weekends. The number of COVID-19 deaths rose to 11. The Ministry of Health said that the latest fatality was a patient in her 80s suffering from chronic illnesses. A source at the hospital told Arab News: “The quarantine is beginning to show its results now and we have to wait to see the newly infected cases in the coming days. We may reach the peak stage and we are preparing for it medically.”

The Ministry of Health said that “out of 446 people infected with the coronavirus, there are 416 Lebanese and the rest are of 18 other nationalities.” It added: “Between Sunday and Monday, the Lebanese Red Cross transferred 430 suspected cases with COVID-19 symptoms and they are waiting for the results of their tests. There are 1,074 people still quarantined for contact with infected patients. There have been 32 cases of recovery so far.” On Monday, journalist May Chidiac was discharged from hospital after she was diagnosed with COVID-19. She spent a week in the hospital. She told Arab News that she did not need oxygen or a ventilator and that “the longest hour in my life was today when I waited for my sister to take me from hospital to home.”

by middleeasteye.net — Cheering erupted from balconies and windows in Lebanon on Sunday evening, as the country’s citizens celebrated their “heroic” medical workers battling the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative spread online with the Arabic hashtag “a cheer for the heroes”, shared by public figures including journalists, actors and the Arab pop star Ragheb Alama. In one Beirut neighbourhood, a woman draped in a Lebanese flag sang the national anthem as her neighbours drummed on pots and pans, an AFP journalist said. Elsewhere, Lebanese played drums and blew vuvuzelas, sharing videos of the street performances online. Similar initiatives have gained attention from Italy to France but they have remained rare in the Arab world.

by AFP — Lebanon Friday pledged to finalise a plan to restructure the country’s massive debt by the end of 2020, just weeks after its first default in history. Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni promised “a full restructuring of the government debt –- both Lebanese pound and dollar denominated debt” as part of a wider economic recovery plan. “Our aim is to finalise this ambitious turnaround agenda before year-end 2020,” he said during a presentation to investors by webcast. Describing the Lebanese economic model as “broken”, he also pledged banking sector and fiscal reforms. One of the most indebted countries in the world, Lebanon is burdened by a public debt equivalent to more than 170 percent of GDP. On Monday, the finance ministry said it would discontinue payments on all of its outstanding dollar-denominated Eurobonds. This came after its first default in history on a $1.2 billion Eurobond originally due on March 9. The country is embroiled in one of its worst economic crises since the 1975-1990 civil war, now compounded by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus. In a bid to halt the spread of the illness, the government has ordered a lockdown until April 12 and ordered all non-essential businesses to close.

by middleeastmonitor.com — Lebanese security forces cleared away a protest camp in central Beirut on Saturday and reopened roads blocked by demonstrators since protests against the governing elite started in October, Reuters reports. The camp centred around Martyrs Square had mostly fallen dormant in recent months as the protests waned. Lebanon this week tightened measures […]

by middleeastmonitor.com — The government in Lebanon is preparing to fly citizens stranded abroad by the coronavirus pandemic back to Beirut, Minister of Information Manal Abdul Samad said on Thursday. “Those Lebanese abroad who want to return to Lebanon after 12 April must fill in forms and a mechanism will be devised before 30 March to facilitate bank transfers to them,” she explained. “They should communicate with our embassies to report their situation and needs.” Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti confirmed the news in an interview with local channel MTV, noting that no Lebanese citizen will be allowed to return before they are tested for Covid-19 and it is confirmed that they do not have or carry the disease. “Any infected person can be an unexploded bomb for those returning on the same flight,” he explained. Lebanese students overseas and in financial difficulties will also be eligible to apply for money transfers from the government, added Hitti.

Lebanese banks have been enforcing harsh capital controls on accounts since October, only allowing depositors to withdraw as little as $100 per week as the country faces its worst economic and financial crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990. Hitti noted that students whose families are unable to support them financially because of the current situation will be supported by the government. Lebanon has also extended the state of “general mobilisation” until 12 April and added new measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus.