BEIRUT: Lebanon Tuesday registered 59 new coronavirus-related deaths and 2,723 more cases, as the country was embroiled in a scandal over the vaccination of several members of Parliament outside the rules of country's inoculation plan.

The cases were detected among 21,458 tests, with only 22 cases recorded among travelers arriving from abroad. The positivity rate of the tests in the last two weeks stood at 17.7 percent.

The total number of cases since the virus was first detected in the country on Feb. 21, 2020, rose to 359,320, according to the Health Ministry. The total number of fatalities stands at 4,446.

The Health Ministry said 2,147 patients were in hospital for COVID-19, with 918 in ICUs and 298 on ventilators.

Earlier in the day, Lebanons ruling class came under fire as 16 MPs over the age of 75 were inoculated at Parliament in what was a breach in the national vaccination plans rules and a gross display of privilege.

Head of the national COVID-19 vaccination committee Dr. Abdel Rahman al-Bizri Tuesday condemned the vaccination of MPs, calling it a violation that cannot be tolerated.

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