Angry Lebanese protest ongoing lockdown amid looming poverty

Many Lebanese are growing more concerned about how to make ends meet as the country edges more toward economic collapse, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic and a complete lockdown.
TOPSHOT - Lebanese anti-government protesters clash with security forces near the Serail (headquarters of the Governorate), in the northern port city of Tripoli, during a demonstration to protest against the economic situation, on January 28, 2021. - Tripoli was already one of Lebanon's poorest areas before the coronavirus pandemic piled new misery onto a chronic economic crisis. Many of its residents have been left without an income since Lebanon imposed a full lockdown earlier this month in a bid to stem
Anti-government protesters clash with security forces near the Serail (headquarters of the governorate) during a demonstration to protest against the economic situation, in the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Jan. 28, 2021. - Joseph Eid/AFP via Getty Images
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Hanan Hamdan
@HananMHamdan

BEIRUT — The specter of poverty is haunting the majority of the Lebanese — be they poor or wealthy — as they struggle to buy food and basic necessities amid worsening living conditions resulting from a complete lockdown and night curfew that started Jan. 7 and is scheduled to remain in place until Feb. 1, albeit with some exceptions.

On Jan. 11, the Supreme Defense Council declared a state of public emergency and imposed a round-the-clock curfew between Jan. 14 and Jan. 25. The lockdown was again extended Jan. 21 until Feb. 8, as the number of new coronavirus cases exceed 6,000 a day with more than 70 deaths in a 24-hour period.

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