Thread by @Aya_Majzoub

#Lebanon’s financial crisis has restricted the ability of importers to bring in vital goods, resulting in a scarcity of medical supplies, incl masks + gloves, necessary to deal with the #COVID_19 outbreak. Latest from @hrw:
hrw.org/news/2020/03/2…

Medical supply importers have only been able to bring in $10million of equipment since Sept, <10% of #Lebanon's needs. Head of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals warned “if there are no imports of fresh [medical] supplies, we will not be able to manage for more than a week.

Hospital staff and nurses also raised concerns to @hrw that #Lebanon private and public hospitals were not taking adequate measures to protect them from infection. Despite nurses being on the frontlines, some hospitals are not paying them or slashing their salaries.

The #Lebanon government also owes public and private hospitals large sums of money, making it harder for them to purchase medical supplies to combat #COVID_19, hire additional staff, and provide necessary protective gear.

A source at the public Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH) in Beirut, the leading COVID-19 testing and treatment center in the country, said that the #Lebanon government has paid only 40 percent of the dues it owes the hospital from 2019 and has made no payments for 2020.

The #Lebanon government has taken swift and broad social distancing measures that bought it time, but its ability to manage the #COVID_19 outbreak will depend on how it uses this time to secure necessary supplies and provide health care workers with the resources they need.