A woman gets inoculated with the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2022. Lebanon on Wednesday registered 5,818 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases to 746,632, the Health Ministry reported. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
BEIRUT, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon on Wednesday registered 5,818 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases to 746,632, the Health Ministry reported.
Meanwhile, death toll from the virus went up by 20 cases to 9,213, and around 84 percent of the hospitalized were unvaccinated, according to the ministry.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad attributed the sudden remarkable increase in COVID-19 cases to the spread of the Omicron variant and the excessive gatherings among citizens during the festive season of Christmas and New Year.
Abiad noted that his ministry has required students, who will return to school in a couple of days, to wear masks at schools.
He added that the World Health Organization has offered over half a million masks to schools in Lebanon and 80,000 COVID-19 rapid test kits to curb the case increase. Enditem
A student gets inoculated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, Jan. 5, 2022. Lebanon on Wednesday registered 5,818 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases to 746,632, the Health Ministry reported. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
