BEIRUT- Lebanon will begin an overnight shutdown from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., with some exceptions to be announced later, as it steps up measures to combat coronavirus, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said on Thursday.

Earlier, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni issued a circular asking all public institutions to suspend application of an article of a previous circular until further notice, the Finance Ministry statement said.

Lebanon has so far recorded 368 cases of coronavirus and six deaths.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht and Tom Perry; Editing by Alison Williams) ((eric.knecht@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: eric.knecht.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))