ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the field of public health and highlighted the importance of efficient, stable healthcare systems. Since October 2019, Lebanon has been facing a turbulent phase economically, politically and socially. In this tumultuous context, the first COVID-19 case in Lebanon was reported on 21 February 2020. The timing could not have been worse, since the healthcare system – already strained for several reasons – had to face multiple challenges. Even though the COVID-19 crisis highlighted the leadership capacity of the long-absent public health sector and appeared to be well managed at the start of the pandemic, the situation today is completely different: the number of cases has increased dramatically and the capacity of the system has decreased incrementally, especially since the devastating Beirut sea port explosion on 4 August 2020. In such a fragile context, the COVID-19 outbreak seems to exacerbate Lebanon’s situation further, and its impact on the country and its healthcare system appears to be tremendous. This chapter analyses the mechanisms used to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges Lebanon faced, but also the success stories and the lessons learnt.
