The chairman of the parliamentary health committee, Assem Araji, said on Tuesday that 80 percent of hospital beds dedicated to the treatment of the coronavirus are occupied, a figure he described as "worrying."

Here’s what we know:

•The availability of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients will be the subject of a meeting today between Health Minister Firas Abiad and the Parliamentary Committee on Health.

•The occupancy rate of hospital beds “is causing concern,” Araji wrote on Twitter, “especially if the ICU admission rate increases in the coming weeks." Last year, the holiday travel season brought a surge of infections that did not relent until the end of April. Thousands of members of the diaspora from around the world typically travel to Lebanon around the time of Christmas and New Year’s.

•According to the latest report published Monday by the Ministry of Health, 631 patients are currently hospitalized, including 275 in intensive care.

•The number of beds available is “less than 850” according to Araji, compared to roughly 2,500 in December 2020. Several hospitals closed coronavirus wings over the summer as the number of cases declined, he said.

•On Saturday, the Health Ministry confirmed two patients suspected of having contracted the Omicron variant of the coronavirus were confirmed to be infected with it. The cases were detected during screening of arriving travelers at Beirut airport and immediately placed in isolation.

•Hospitals continue to be understaffed and under-resourced as the country suffers from an exodus of trained medical professionals and an economic crisis that makes it increasingly difficult for hospitals to obtain medical supplies.