A long-time volunteer, Ramy Finge knows the poor suburbs on the fringes of Tripoli, the poorest city in Lebanon, who was one of the local coordinators of the popular uprising against the political class that erupted in October 2019 in the country of Cedar. " I see these days an incredible distress, during the distribution of food: crying septuagenarians, people with plastic bags as containers … They ask me: "Are you going to come back tomorrow?" ", describes with emotion this 54 year old dentist, mobilized to serve meals to the inhabitants of the Tripolitan suburbs, in these times of confinement linked to the coronavirus. “Like everyone else, the poorest must stay at home. But they have no resources ", alarmed the caregiver, reached by phone.
In Lebanon, the first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in February. As of Friday, April 10, 20 deaths from the coronavirus have been recorded since the local outbreak of the pandemic. Extended to April 26, the containment was announced on March 15 by the government led by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, with the suspension of non-essential businesses. Before that date, restaurants and bars had already had to close. Schools too. The country is isolated. With the exception of the ongoing repatriation of Lebanese from abroad, flights have been suspended, and border crossings with Syria have been closed.
Social blast
The slowdown in activity exacerbates the difficulties, in a country shaken by a serious financial and economic crisis since the fall of 2019. The depression had already been felt before the health crisis, with the growing difficulty of families to pay school fees for their children (the majority of students are educated in the private sector) or to care for themselves. According to an official from the Ministry of Finance, almost 45% of the population now lives below the poverty line. This rate was estimated at a third before the fall.
"The impoverishment will accelerate with the Covid-19 crisis. Companies, in catering (Hundreds of restaurants have already shut down since October) or the industry, are facing bankruptcy, which would mean further layoffs, " considers the Minister of the Economy, Raoul Nehmé. According to the analyst firm Infopro, nearly 220,000 jobs have already been lost between October 2019 and January 2020. The shutdown of the country also weakens the workforce in the informal sector (more than half of workers in Liban).
