More specifically, we present results of an analysis of COVID-19 cases in Lebanon pre- and post-lockdown measures. In this study we aim to show, with real time incidence data, that the country lockdown imposed by the Lebanese government will have a critical and significant impact on reducing the spread of the virus and eventually containing it. As a matter of fact, the Lebanese government was trying to combat COVID-19 amid its worst financial and economic crisis since the Lebanese civil war and at a time of wide spread protests raging across the country demanding political and economic reforms. Hence, the Lebanese government has adopted one of the strictest lockdowns in the Middle East and North Arica (MENA) region even before a single death was reported, and has isolated infections to keep the disease at bay. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, along with its Mediterranean peers, has been explicitly attempting to limit the spread of the virus and, hopefully, eradicate it. Herd immunity refers to having as many lower risk people infected as possible and thus become immune while minimizing the exposure of people who are vulnerable ( 3, 4). However, an alternative approach was adopted by many countries including the UK and the US that is to achieve herd immunity. China was the first to implement a complete lockdown of Wuhan and at least 16 other cities by the end of January to try to contain the causal virus (SARS-CoV-2), then the world followed, which can now be described as the largest quarantine in human history. Thus, serious debates were raised on ways to react to the transmission of this disease. The outbreak, nonetheless, has rapidly accelerated outside China and was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global pandemic on Ma( 2). Many authors have tried to predict the incidence of COVID-19 in China ( 1). This study could be an evidence-based call to continue with the lockdown measures, based on real time incidence data.

The findings show that the nationwide lockdown was effective in reducing cases and has been successful in, so far, containing the virus. We analyze COVID-19 cases in Lebanon before and after lockdown measures have been implemented. This is explored using real time incidence data in Lebanon.

The aim of this study is to show that country lockdown has a critical and significant impact on the pandemic. In the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine, we assess the potential role of containment measures to suppress the virus transmission, thereby slowing down the growth rate of cases and rapidly reducing case incidence. 2Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, LebanonĪs the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic progresses, countries around the world are increasingly implementing a range of responses that are intended to help prevent the transmission of this disease.1Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

Coronavirus total lockdown