Almost 170 Lebanese villages and towns will go into lockdown for the next week, the government said on Sunday, as it grapples with record numbers of novel coronavirus cases, AFP reports.

Authorities have also ordered bars and nightclubs nationwide closed “until further notice”.

An interior ministry statement said 169 villages and towns across the country would be locked down for one week from 6am on Monday.

Around half of those localities had already been placed in lockdown under measures announced this month, including the closure of all public and private institutions excluding bakeries and pharmacies.

Lebanon, a Mediterranean country reeling from its worst economic crisis in decades, has recorded 52,558 novel coronavirus cases, including 455 deaths.