BEIRUT — On March 26, the Lebanese cabinet approved the extension of the general mobilization until April 12 as yet another effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus. To limit the spread of the coronavirus in Lebanon, the Lebanese Armed Forces' helicopters hovered March 22 over several areas in Lebanon and called over loudspeakers on all citizens to stay home and only go out in case of emergency.

On the same day, the Lebanese army and Internal Security Forces were deployed in various Lebanese regions in implementation of the government’s decision to ensure citizens’ compliance with the lockdown declared a week earlier.

During a March 21 press conference, Prime Minister Hassan Diab called on the Lebanese to “impose a self-curfew because the state alone cannot cope with the spread of the pandemic.”

Since the announcement of the first coronavirus case — a 45-year-old Lebanese woman who came from the Iranian city of Qom on Feb. 21 — the Lebanese government has taken several precautionary steps and closed nightclubs and cinemas as part of its attempt to prevent people from gathering.