BEIRUT: Lebanon registered 1,502 new coronavirus cases and one death the Health Ministry said Tuesday, the highest number of daily cases since April as the country enters a new wave of the virus.

The new cases were detected among 24,564 tests, resulting in an average two-week positivity rate of 5 percent. Out of Tuesday's cases, 73 were from incoming passengers into Lebanon.

The total number of infections now sits at 557,145 and 7,895 deaths since the virus was first found in Lebanon in February 2020.

Tuesday's numbers mark a jump of over 600 since the numbers recorded over the weekend; the last time the country registered a higher daily total was three months ago on April 21, with 2,082 cases.

The Health Ministry report detailed that the number of people hospitalized with the virus has also increased since, with 225 individuals now in hospital with 94 patients in intensive care and 16 on ventilators.

A further 8,525 first stage coronavirus vaccines were administered, bringing the total number to 1,17,66,32 people or 24.7 percent of the elgible population. A total of 27,613 second dose vaccines were also handed out, adding to 827,197 or 17.3 percent of the population eligible who are now fully vaccinated since the rollout began in February.

Lebanon has recorded a 40 percent increase in new cases over the last seven days, according to the Health Ministry; with the largest number of new infections in the Mount Lebanon governorate.

With only 31.1 percent of the eligble population registered to receive the vaccine, health experts have been urging people to sign up as the vaccine remains the most effective way to combat the impact of the Delta virus, which has rapidly spread among the community since the start of July.

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