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Lebanon returns to lockdown after post-explosion surge in virus

The country has registered all-time highs in daily new COVID-19 cases following the massive Aug. 4 explosion.
This picture taken on August 19, 2020 shows a view of the landmark Le Gray hotel in the centre of Lebanon's capital Beirut overlooking the Martyrs' Square, as a banner is hung across its facade reading in English "Stay strong! Together we shall riise once again, see you soon", and a giant Lebanese national flag hung over the facade of the neighbouring building, in the aftermath of the monster blast that ravaged the city earlier in August. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon began a new lockdown on Friday after COVID-19 cases surged in the wake of the Beirut port explosion.

The Aug. 4 explosion left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and filled the hospitals. As preliminary investigations indicate a fertilizer known as ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded in a warehouse, people have protested en masse over the government’s fateful decision to store the explosive material so close to Beirut’s downtown.

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