Lebanon's hospitals are being overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, medics warned, as infection rates surge in the wake of end of year holidays.

The national Covid-19 task force was to meet later the same day and expected to advise a three-week lockdown, said Petra Khoury, its head. Lebanon, with a population of around six million, has recorded 183,888 coronavirus cases, including 1,466 deaths, since February.

In what he termed a “catastrophic” situation, Sleiman Haroun, head of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, said “the 50 private hospitals in the country receiving patients with Covid-19 are now almost full”.

They have a total of 850 beds, including 300 in intensive care units, Haroun said. “Patients are now waiting in line [...] waiting for a bed to be free,” he told AFP.