Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan on Monday deemed full lockdown as an opportunity for the health sector to gain strength and be well prepared for the next period as the virus cases number is catastrophically increasing.

“The partial closure didn’t give the necessary results, thus important measures must be taken to curb the spread of the virus,” Hassan said during a press conference.

"We have conducted a series of contacts with the Central Bank Governor that led us to release a certain amount for private hospitals to create departments that would help confront coronavirus,” he added.

“The dues for the first six months of the year 2020 will be paid to the hospitals this week,” he pointed out.

Hassan announced that a committee will be visiting the hospitals in Beirut and Mount Lebanon tomorrow so as to make sure that logistical hospitals are not able to open virus departments.