Fahmi Revises Virus Curfew Hours, Allows Most Sectors to Reopen

Caretaker Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi on Tuesday issued a memo revising the duration of the coronavirus nighttime curfew and allowing most sectors to reopen.

According to the memo, the curfew will now begin at 1am instead of 10pm. It will still be lifted at 6am.

The memo also allows the reopening of bars, pubs, nightclubs, social event halls, popular souks, Casino du Liban, video game centers, video poker centers, public parks, theaters and cinemas.

Weddings will meanwhile be allowed at a capacity of 50% of any given venue while “respecting social distancing and health and safety precautions.”

The memo also says that the reopening plan involves four phases.

The preparatory phase entails carrying out awareness campaigns in cooperation with media outlets, the first will include the organization of measures and training of employees, the second will entail monitoring by representatives of the sectors themselves to ensure the proper implementation of recommendations and the third will include measures by state authorities against violators.

Lebanon has seen a major surge in coronavirus cases and deaths in recent weeks and the government scrapped a planned lockdown in the wake of the deadly blast at Beirut port.

The Health Ministry reported 498 new cases and seven more deaths on Tuesday.

The cases raise the overall tally to 21,423 -- including 6,722 recoveries -- while the deaths take the death toll to 207.