Caretaker Public Works Minister Michel Najjar announced Sunday that he had tested positive for coronavirus, making him the second Lebanese minister to catch the virus since it was first detected in the country in late February.
“I am now in quarantine until I overcome the virus, and I will continue my work as usual through the available technical means,” Najjar said Sunday, according to local media.
He stated that he was in good health, and did not have any symptoms. Najjar also apologized to those he had come into contact with, but stressed that he had only been tested Saturday.
Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe previously tested positive for the
coronavirus back in September, less than one month after he assumed his role. He has since made a full recovery.
Free Patriotic Movement head Gebran Bassil, the son-in-law of President Michel Aoun, was also discharged from hospital early last week after himself contracting the virus.
Lebanon’s
coronavirus cases passed the 60,000 mark Saturday, amid a deadly second wave of the virus which has crippled the country’s already ailing health sector.