More than half of Lebanon’s imported COVID-19 cases were from travellers arriving from Turkey, according to data published by the Lebanese Health Ministry, the 961 reported on Wednesday.
Forty-one of 66 confirmed infections between Wednesday and Sunday were detected among people flying from Turkey, the Lebanese news website said.
The ministry data showed 55 percent of arriving flights carried passengers who tested positive for the coronavirus, the 961 said.
Lebanese officials believe PCR tests carried out before boarding in Turkey were unreliable and were not conducted properly, Hasan Mallah, the head of the ministry’s office at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, told the Daily Star, a Lebanese newspaper.
The Turkish Health Ministry recorded almost 32,000 daily cases and 193 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Daily infections over the past few weeks place Turkey at the top of a list of countries worst affected by the pandemic also including Brazil and the United States, which have larger populations.
Ahval