More refugees in Lebanon test positive for COVID-19

May 29, 2020

More than a dozen refugees in eastern Lebanon have tested positive for the coronavirus. The news follows a handful of virus cases last month in the impoverished community.

There were 15 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Syrian refugees in Majdal Anjar near the Syrian border as of yesterday, a UN spokeswoman told Al-Monitor. The individuals live in the same building. There was only one confirmed COVID-19 case among Syrian refugees before the ones in Majdal Anjar, and this person living in northern Lebanon has since recovered, the spokeswoman said.

In April, five COVID-19 infections were confirmed in a Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon.

The news shows the vulnerability of Lebanon’s large refugee population. The country hosts more than a million Palestinian, Syrian and other refugees, many of whom live in crowded, poor conditions.

The International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian nongovernmental organization, reported that 90% of Syrian refugees they surveyed in April said they are “in critical need of food.” This figure was only 32% in March, a spokeswoman for the organization told Al-Monitor.