Lebanon is returning to lockdown with an overnight curfew to try and stem rapidly rising coronavirus infections in the wake of a massive blast in Beirut on August 4. The new measures come into effect on Friday and last more than two weeks, the Interior Ministry said. The move would not affect the ongoing clean-up and aid effort following the port blast. A nightly movement restriction will be imposed from 6pm to 6am. Malls will be closed and restaurants restricted to delivery, with curtailed operating hours. Social gatherings will also be prohibited. The airport will operate normally and ministries will be staffed at half capacity. Areas damaged by the massive explosion that hit Beirut on August 4 will also be exempt from the restrictions, as clean-up efforts continue across multiple neighbourhoods. Hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser exploded at Beirut port in the heart of the city, flattening the surrounding neighbourhoods, killing more than 177 people and wounding thousands more. Lebanon was already seeing rising cases of the coronavirus before the blast but has reported a string of record tallies in recent weeks. Authorities reported another single-day record of 456 new infections on Monday, followed by a further 421 on Tuesday that brought the tally to 9,758, including 107 deaths since the start of the outbreak in February. A previously planned lockdown was scrapped in the wake of the explosion, which left thousands homeless. Health Minister Hamad Hassan warned on Monday that hospitals were reaching maximum capacity to treat coronavirus patients after the Beirut blast overwhelmed health centres already stretched by the virus. "Public and private hospitals in the capital, in particular, have a very limited capacity, whether in terms of beds in intensive care units or respirators," he said. "We are on the brink, we don't have the luxury to take our time."
