BEIRUT: Lebanons Health Ministry confirmed 21 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 1,140.

Six of the cases were registered among returning nationals and 15 were detected among the resident population.

Only 819 PRC tests were carried out within the prior 24 hours to find these cases. This is well below the 2,500 daily tests that health experts agree are needed to make an accurate assessment of the virus spread across the country and inform public policy with regard to easing lockdown measures.

Three people are in a critical condition because of COVID-19 related complications and 26 people have died in Lebanon so far as a result of the disease.

Thirteen of the local cases confirmed Tuesday were found among a community of Syrian refugees in the village of Majdal Anjar, Bekaa Gov. Kamal Abou Jaoudeh announced Tuesday.

Majdal Anjar has been under localized lockdown since Friday, when a cluster of at least 32 infections was detected. Authorities have been administering further tests in the area since then to trace the size of the outbreak.

The Syrian refugees found Tuesday to have caught the virus were living together in same block of flats. All the residents of the building have now been tested, Abou Jaoudeh said.

A spokesperson for the U.N.s refugee agency told The Daily Star that the agency was looking into the Majdal Anjar outbreak and that it would shortly confirm the total number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are known to have caught COVID-19.

Infection clusters are being identified with greater frequency as Health Ministry teams carry out targeted testing campaigns across the country. This includes testing in areas where it has been limited so far, and in known infection clusters.

Densely populated housing complexes are an environment conducive to the spread of COVID-19. Last week a cluster of over 70 cases was found among a community of Bangladeshi migrant workers who were living in a building in Ras al-Nabeh.

Despite the recent spikes in cases, Health Minister Hamad Hasan said Tuesday the country was moving toward a return to normality.

"We are systematically moving toward a return to normal life," Hasan told reporters after meeting Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian at Dar al-Fatwa in Beirut.

We hope that all citizens apply [health] guidelines and abide by them in order to prevent the spread of the virus in the second phase, he said.

The Interior Ministry meanwhile said that wearing masks and keeping a safe distance between each other is obligatory, given the non-compliance of some citizens to preventive measures.

People who are caught walking outside while not wearing a mask will be subject to a LL50,000 fine from Friday, the Internal Security Forces announced.

Residents who use public transport must also wear masks inside the vehicle, or the driver will face the same fine. Private cars may carry a maximum of three mask-wearing people, the ISF added.

In a bid to encourage greater adherence to preventive measures such as mask wearing, Hasan announced Monday that his ministry, in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, will begin distributing 1 million free masks.

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