Lebanon: Protests break out in several parts, hinder coronavirus testing

Adding to all the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic, scattered protests broke out in some parts of Lebanon on April 27. The protests led to road closures in many areas eventually leading to blockage of Beirut based medical teams which aimed at conducting COVID-19 tests in other parts of the nation. The coronavirus has till now infected 710 and killed 24 across the middle eastern nation. 

'Simple demands'

“Our demands are simple and we are not asking for the impossible,” said protester George Ghanem in Zouk Mosbeh, citing early parliamentary elections and an independent judiciary. "We want to live in dignity ... we will continue and no one will remove us from the street.” A woman carried a placard reading: “My salary buys me two cartons of milk.”

Meanwhile, the country’s health ministry asserted that its teams would try again on April 28 and urged protestors to refrain from hindering the work of paramedics as it was required to access the spread of coronavirus on the nation. As per current data, Lebanon has a population of 5 million. The protests came as the Lebanese government eased some lockdown on April 27 as a number of cases reduced in the past two weeks. According to reports, the nighttime curfew has shortened by one hour and some businesses would resume. 

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International media reported that the protest saturated in the afternoon following which the Lebanese troops forcefully removed scores of protestors from the main highway in Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut. However, protestor against blocked the road with burning tires. Elaborating further, the Lebanese army said it respects the people's right to protest as long as the protesters don't close roads or attack public and private property.

This comes as Lebanon is continuously sinking in debts and recession. On the night of April 26, the Central Bank of Lebanon issued a circular instructing currency exchange shops not to sell the dollar for more than 3,200 pounds. 

Read: Lebanon PM: Central Bank Gov Responsible For Currency Falls

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Image credits: AP