‘A perfect storm’: Lebanon warns of coronavirus surge after Beirut port explosion as healthcare system on its knees

Lebanon faces a “dangerous” surge in coronavirus cases that will overwhelm its battered healthcare system, the country’s health minister warned after Tuesday’s explosion in Beirut destroyed medical supply depots at the port, as well four key hospitals.

The country was in the middle of a second lockdown due to a spike in Covid-19 infections when the blast struck killing 145 people and injuring 5,000 more.

In the aftermath of the disaster the health ministry on Thursday announced 255 new coronavirus cases, a record daily high.

Health minister Hamad Hassan told The Independent he feared the case load will continue to sharply rise over the following weeks, as hospital resources and supplies are redirected to treat those injured by the blast.

He also feared the rescue and cleaning operation, which has seen thousands of volunteers gather in the capital, would undermine social-distancing efforts in place to stem the infection.

“There’s a great danger that the pandemic might spread further, especially because in the middle of the rescue operation many of the medical and nursing staff couldn’t follow anti-Covid-19 protective measures,” Mr Hassan said.

He added that four hospitals had been badly damaged and so were out of services in Beirut including al-Roum hospital, one of the country’s main coronavirus treatment and testing facilities.

Adding to the nation’s woes was the fact that the ministry’s medical supply depot at the port had been damaged.

“We still don’t have a preliminary estimation of losses,” he said, adding that the army had been tasked with inspecting the area “to avoid any public money squandering”.

“We are deeply concerned that the pandemic will spread because of the end of lockdown, the massive crowding and the lack of personal protective equipment. The cases will increase more within weeks, I’m sure.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Dr Firass Abiad, director of Lebanon’s main coronavirus treatment centre the Rafic Hariri University Hospital. He said the country was gutted by the “perfect storm” of the financial crisis, lack of medical supplies, the pandemic and the blast.

“You have a situation where you’re taking a healthcare system which is barely holding on the burden and doubling it,” he added.

Lebanon was already struggling amid an unprecedented financial crisis that has seen the currency lose 80 per cent of its value and prices skyrocket.

Just hours before the blast Dr Abiad had tweeted that his hospital was nearing capacity for coronavirus patients, as the country had been ordered back into a second lockdown.

Hospitals across the capital later struggled to treat the flood of wounded when thousands of tonnes of explosive material apparently caught fire in Beirut port triggering one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in modern history.

The blast, which was felt as far away as Cyprus, destroyed the inside of several major facilities including al-Roum, which had been hosting one of Lebanon’s few drive-through coronaviruses testing centres.

Doctors and nurses there were forced to treat the wounded by the light of their mobile phones in the car park. They had to evacuate the building, since it was so damaged, and sectioned off a corner of the car park for the Covid-19 patients to try to prevent any further spread of the deadly disease.

“We don’t know the extent to the damage, but we estimate we will need millions of dollars to get this hospital functioning again,” Dr Antoine Challita, a hospital official said, surround by a mound of a shattered glass, brick and hospital equipment.

He said four nurses had been killed by the blast, which cut the hospital’s power supply, meaning oxygen machines and respirators stopped working.

“We have moved the coronavirus cases to other hospitals across Lebanon,” the doctor added.

“I am concerned that the disease may have spread as people were unable to take preventative measures in the blast.”

French president Emmanuel Macron, who visited Beirut on Thursday, has promised to help mobilise much needed aid for Lebanon but suggested it was dependent on a fully transparent international investigation into the blast and the Lebanese government implementing economic reforms and curbing corruption.

After greeting crowds of angry protesters in the most damaged neighbourhoods, Mr Macron said an audit was needed on the Lebanese central bank among other changes.

Hospital officials welcomed the promise of aid, saying Lebanon would be heavily reliant on help from abroad.

“I have never passed through similar circumstance where so many bad things have happened at the same time,” Dr Abiad said.

“If this is not the perfect storm, I don’t know what is.”