BEIRUT, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's total number of COVID-19 cases crossed the 30,000 mark on Tuesday amid a rapid resurgence of the pandemic.
The tally of coronavirus infections in Lebanon surged to 30,838 after 851 new cases were recorded, while the death toll went up by eight to 315, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
The number of cases increased remarkably in Lebanon over the past days, prompting Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan to suggest shutting down the whole country for two weeks to curb the pandemic's spread.
But the suggestion raised criticism among businesses owners who have suffered great losses since the outbreak of the virus in February.
Restaurants, shops and malls in Lebanon remained open in hope to be able to compensate for their losses before the end of the summer season.
Lebanon has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic since Feb. 21.
The country has received several donations from different countries for the fight against COVID-19 including China which offered on Sept. 9 around 10,000 N95 masks, 100,000 medical masks, 100,000 gloves and 6,000 PCR rapid tests. Enditem
