Health Minister Hamad Hassan visited Saturday afternoon the Sidon Governmental Hospital to check on the adopted measures to deal with any case of the emerging coronavirus disease. 

Hassan held a meeting with the hospital director, Ahmad al-Samad, on the necessary procedures and preventive measures, and toured the section equipped for this purpose.

"Our visit to Sidon Governmental Hospital today comes within our efforts to keep pace with the logistical procedures carried out by the Hospital's board of directors, the director and the medical and administrative teams, and we found all response and cooperation in preparing a whole department to receive cases of the corona disease, if need be," said Hassan. He noted that the same will be applied across all governorates. 

Over the two possible infected cases in Nabatiyeh, Hassan said: "According to the scientific data available to us, there are no indications of the coronavirus in both cases, and I will continue my tour towards Nabatiyeh to follow-up on this matter closely and to intervene in case of any new medical data." 

On fear of the virus spreading in Lebanon, the Health Minister deemed that "fear is legitimate, so is caution, but excessive panic is unnecessary." He added: "Compliance with procedures on land, sea and air ports is mandatory and must be strict, and we stressed in our tour today on the importance of adhering to these standards and plans. 

"Precaution is a duty," Hassan underlined. 

The Health Minister hoped for cooperation among all segments of the Lebanese society at various administrative and popular levels, urging people to practice caution when it comes to sharing news on social media, noting that the Ministers of Justice and Interior have taken the malicious rumors that prevailed recently very seriously. 

Hassan, thus, urged the community to act responsibly in this respect.