Coronavirus (Covid-19) infections may increase in Lebanon over the next 10 days in the aftermath of the Beirut blast, the country's Health Minister Hamad Hassan said.
Hassan told radio station Sawt Loubnan that coronavirus cases may climb because of interactions between the wounded and doctors without personal protection equipment, according to the state news agency NNA.
He added that emergency field hospitals would have designated sections to treat coronavirus patients.
Lebanese hospitals have been overwhelmed after an explosion struck Beirut's port on Tuesday (Aug 4), killing at least 137 and wounding 5,000. Four hospitals were damaged in the blast.
Lebanon recorded 209 coronavirus cases on Tuesday and 146 cases on Wednesday, according to an official statement by the Health Ministry on Twitter.
The country has had a total of 5,417 coronavirus cases with 68 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
(Compiled)
