by arabnews.com -- NAJIA HOUSSARI -- BEIRUT: Lebanon remains open to naval and air shipping despite interruptions from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Meanwhile, health and security authorities are struggling to prevent the virus from spinning out of control. On Monday, there was a slight increase in the number of new cases, with the Ministry of Health announcing that the total number of infections was 256 cases. Lebanese Minister of Health Dr. Hamad Hassan said: “80 of 160 beds are vacant in Rafik Hariri University Hospital, designated to receive cases of infection by the coronavirus.” Lebanese lawmaker Michel Moawad announced on Monday that the number of infections has increased in the northern district of Zgharta and that “a total lockdown will be imposed on the region.”

Lebanese people are still confining themselves to their homes under the monitoring of the army and security forces, which were put in charge of reporting any violation of the lockdown. Monday saw the first recorded case among UN Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) forces, with one of its soldiers contracting the virus. He was confined at the UNIFIL hospital in Naqoura. Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL spokesperson, said that all precautions were taken to prevent the spread of the virus, adding that the soldier was on leave and returned on March 15, and that he was immediately quarantined. Four other soldiers who were in direct contact with the infected soldier were put in confinement. Tests were done on all four, with three testing negative. UNIFIL is still waiting for the result of the fourth soldier.

A meeting was held on Monday in the Port of Beirut to decide measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The port management declared its commitment to providing masks and other protection materials for visitors. Hassan Koraytem, managing director of the Port of Beirut, said: “The port building, offices and entrances controlled by the army, general security, customs and state security will all be sterilized.” He added that “a circular will be issued to all shipping and goods clearing companies not to deploy personnel who are more vulnerable to the disease than others, especially people above 60 with chronic diseases.” On Monday, there was a slight increase in the number of new cases.

by Dana Halawi BEIRUT,(Xinhua) -- Lebanese engineers and medical experts are developing local ventilator prototype amid the spread of COVID-19. Hussein Al Haj Hassan, a Lebanese telecom and network engineer, initiates the ventilator prototype project with Hisham Issa, an electrical engineer and Hussein Hamdan, a mechanical engineer. "We are happy to see that our initiative has made a huge impact not only on the personal level but also on the corporate level where we have seen many factories and companies starting to work on such prototypes, which will help Lebanon to get prepared in case the number of patients increase," Al Haj Hassan said, adding that the product is a critical medical device which needs time to be produced.

The engineer said his team, consisting of 300 people, aims to meet basic requirements with its product by gathering information from medical doctors. Ventilators are machines that help people breathe when they can't breathe on their own. The machine works by delivering air through a tube in the patient's windpipe into the lungs. "What we worry about for now are technical challenges. When we succeed with the prototype we will go to the funding phase," the young engineer said. He noted that that the Industry Ministry showed high interest in and great support for the project. Lebanese officials have voiced their concerns about the shortage in the needed materials to fight against COVID-19 including ventilators, masks and disinfectants. According to the Health Ministry, there exists a total of 1,185 ventilators in Lebanon with 750 of them functionable while the rest need maintenance. Among the 750 functionable ventilators, 500 are currently in use while the rest are stored for COVID-19 emergency cases. Meanwhile, the Association of Lebanese Banks recently allocated six million U.S. dollars for the import of 120 new ventilators. Lebanon's number of COVID-19 infections has reached 248 so far. Enditem

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press -- BEIRUT -- Unknown assailants shot dead a former member of an Israeli-backed Lebanese militia on Sunday, security officials said. The killing came three days after a jailed Lebanese-American man who belonged to the same militia was released in Beirut and flown to the U.S. Two Lebanese security officials said Antoine Hayek was killed with several bullets from a pistol equipped with a silencer inside his grocery store in the southern village of Mieh Mieh, near the port city of Sidon. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. According to Lebanese media, Hayek had been a warden at a prison run by the South Lebanon Army militia during Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in 2000. The Lebanese-American man, Amer Fakhoury, had been jailed in Lebanon since September and charged with murder and torture of prisoners at the same SLA-run prison — charges he denied. A Lebanese judge ordered him released last week, saying more than 10 years had passed since the alleged crimes.

Jounieh (Lebanon) (AFP) In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother's Day in Lebanon this year, but three students have come up with a new service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions. Down in the street in the coastal town of Jounieh, 18-year-old Christopher Ibrahim texts a teenager who has ordered a flower drop-off for his mother, asking him to bring the family onto the balcony.

He slips a single rose in a ring hanging under the aircraft and it lifts off into the air to carry the flower to its intended recipient. "It's Mother's Day and everything's closed," said the engineering student, wearing a light blue face mask. For almost a week, most Lebanese have been ordered to remain at home to stem the spread of COVID-19. The airport has closed and all non-essential businesses have been told to shutter. Lebanon has recorded 206 cases of the novel coronavirus so far, and counted four deaths. "I wanted to think of something that would enable people make their mothers happy in the safest way -- without there being contact with anyone," Ibrahim said.