Lebanese health official weeps as he tells of growing coronavirus toll

Healthcare workers gather the the nurses station in the intensive care unit of the Rafic Hariri University Hospital in the Lebanese capital Beirut. (AFP)
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Updated 10 January 2021
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Lebanese health official weeps as he tells of growing coronavirus toll

  • ‘People are begging for help,’ says tearful Lebanese doctor
  • Lebanon still has not received any vaccine as parliament delays action on needed law

BEIRUT: A senior Lebanese health official broke down in tears while describing how stricken coronavirus patients had begged him for a vacant hospital bed so that they would not die at home in front of their families.

Dr. Joseph Al-Helou, director of the Ministry of Public Health’s medical care directorate, said that hospitals in Lebanon are rapidly being overwhelmed but are receiving hundreds of calls from seriously ill people pleading to be admitted.

“Hospitals are under great pressure as there are only a few vacant beds,” Al-Helou said in a video address that was widely shared on social media platforms.

His comments came as the rise in coronavirus cases exceeded even the bleakest predictions, with more than 5,400 new infections reported on Thursday and Friday, and warnings that case numbers could reach 9,000 on Sunday.

Revealing the suffering of medical staff unable to offer beds to patients, a tearful Al-Helou said: “We are receiving hundreds of calls from people who want to be admitted, even if only to the emergency departments. If we tell them that they have to wait for a vacant bed for five, 10 or even 24 hours, they accept. Today, there are 41 people waiting in emergency departments.

“We are working until past midnight to provide transport for patients. Some people decided to celebrate New Year’s Eve in restaurants — isn’t that a grave crime?”

Al-Helou said that a nurse had come to him in tears, saying that a priest had died in front of her.

“I have never cried, but this is unbearable,” he said. “A man begs me, a woman pleads with me to let her die on the street and not in front of her children. How can that be? Medical personnel are drained. Some people are dying at home, and others lack oxygen at home.”

Aida Al-Noori, a nursing supervisor at the Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital in Beirut, told Arab News: “It is a terrifying scene in emergency departments. Doctors are giving patients prescriptions to get treatment at home, and we teach those who need oxygen how to use it at home. Patients in critical conditions stay here.”

She added: “In the coronavirus department, we have 21 intensive care beds and we are clearing another floor in order to dedicate 16 beds to coronavirus patients.”

Dr. Andre Kozaily, director of the Bouar Public Hospital in Keserwan, Mount Lebanon, said that medical staff are treating some coronavirus patients in cars because the facility has reached maximum capacity.

According to the Ministry of Health’s daily COVID-19 data, infected cases have reached their peak in Ashrafieh (Beirut), Haret Hreik (in the southern suburb of Beirut), Dekwaneh (Metn), Aley and Zouk Mosbeh (Keserwan), Jbeil, Saida, Zgharta, Riyaq (Bekaa), Hermel (Baalbek) and Abbasiyeh (in the south).

Dr. Sharaf Abu Sharaf, head of the Lebanese Order of Physicians, criticized the ministry, saying it had failed to adequately equip public hospitals for the past year.

“Doctors and medical personnel in the private sector are carrying out their duty to the fullest. Private hospitals cannot be blamed. I was in the Zahle Public Hospital today where only six of 120 beds are occupied. Why weren’t people directed to go there? Where is the money that has been paid to the ministry to equip hospitals? Nothing has been prepared.”

Lebanon has 30 government and 130 private hospitals.

Abu Sharaf said that there is a shortage of doctors available to treat the rising numbers of patients.

Hamad Hassan, the caretaker health minister, called on people to “refrain from going anywhere, unless absolutely necessary, during the lockdown.”

Lebanon still has not received any vaccine while the country waits on parliament to adopt a law protecting vaccinated people who might suffer from complications.

Lamia Yammine, the caretaker labor minister, revealed on Saturday that she has been infected with the virus, while Information Minister Manal Abdel-Samad urged media companies to “intensify awareness-raising campaigns to reduce the number of infections.”

Petra Khoury, adviser to the caretaker prime minister on medical matters, warned that with cases peaking in Lebanon, every person has a moral duty to avoid infecting another person.”

“Wear masks,” she said.


Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall

Updated 37 min 54 sec ago
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Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s fall

DUBAI: Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs arrived in Damascus on Monday on the first Qatar Airways flight to the Syrian capital since the fall of President Bashar Assad two weeks ago, Doha’s foreign ministry said.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Mohammed Al-Khulaifi was the most senior official of the Gulf Arab state to visit Syria since militants toppled the Assad family’s 54-year-long rule.


Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

Updated 58 min 36 sec ago
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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

  • Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus

TEHRAN: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.


Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers

Updated 23 December 2024
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Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers

  • Foreign ministry spokesman: ‘We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria’

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.


Jordan FM holds talks with Syria’s new leader, calls for inclusive government

Updated 14 min 41 sec ago
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Jordan FM holds talks with Syria’s new leader, calls for inclusive government

  • It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Bashar Assad’s fall
  • Safadi expressed concern over Israel's growing involvement in Syria, warning that it is exacerbating regional conflicts

AMMAN: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi urged the formation of a Syrian government that represents all factions, during his meeting with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday,

He emphasized the need for a comprehensive political process to resolve the ongoing crisis and called on the United Nations to step in and assist Syria. The minister also reaffirmed Jordan's readiness to support efforts aimed at rebuilding the war-torn country.

Meanwhile, Safadi expressed concern over Israel's growing involvement in Syria, warning that it is exacerbating regional conflicts.

It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad’s fall.

Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.

Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed senior officials from a host of countries in the Middle East and beyond in recent days.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters on Sunday that Amman “sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people,” stressing the close ties between the two nations.

Momani said the kingdom would like to see security and stability restored in Syria, and supported “the unity of its territories.”

Stability in war-torn Syria was in Jordan’s interests, Momani said, and would “ensure security on its borders.”

Some Syrians who had fled the war since 2011 and sought refuge in Jordan have begun returning home, according to Jordanian authorities.

The interior ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Syrians had left, out of some 1.3 million refugees Amman says it has hosted.

According to the United Nations, 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered with it in Jordan.

Jordan in recent years has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its 375-kilometer border with Syria.

One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon, for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.


Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say

Updated 23 December 2024
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Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say

  • Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry till date

Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children. That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir Al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.