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BEIRUT: Lebanon confirmed 1,511 new coronavirus cases and 15 deaths Tuesday, as the Internal Security Forces said that 578 positive cases have been registered in total at Roumieh Prison.
Of the new cases, 27 came from travelers arriving from abroad, raising the total number of registered cases to 129,414 since February when the illness was first detected. The total number of deaths now stands at 1,033.
A total of 11,499 PCR tests were administered in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate of in the last two weeks stood at 15.7 percent.
The ISF indicated that many inmates have also made full recoveries in other prisons where the virus had spread. In Batroun, all 21 prisoners who contracted the virus have recovered, the ISF said in a statement. In Zahleh prison 237 coronavirus positive inmates have also recovered.
Roumieh Prison houses more than 3,000 prisoners, with cells holding triple their capacity, and has long been infamous for the poor conditions in some of its blocks. There is also little health care and medicine available for prisoners.
A small number of cases were detected among the prisons inmates and security personnel in mid-September. Cases have increased since then.
This news comes as the rest of the country eases out of its second attempt at a nationwide lockdown to stem an alarming surge of coronavirus cases.
As the full lockdown was lifted Monday, the Tourism Ministry issued a new set of guidelines for all restaurants and tourism-related establishments that serve more than 10 customers at a time which will now have to provide a floor plan certified by an architect that depicts how they will host customers at 50 percent capacity.
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