BEIRUT: Lebanon Saturday reported a record 175 new coronavirus cases and one more death while a member of Parliament confirmed a positive PCR test result that forced the assembly to postpone next week's sessions.

MP George Okeis said he had taken a test after a senior Foreign Ministry official whom he had met several times this week got infected. Okeis said he had also met this week with several MPs as well as Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

Okeis is a member of the LF's parliamentary bloc.

Berri immediatetly suspended meetings at Parliament scheduled for Monday and Tuesday and called on MPs to take PCR tests.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Zeina Akar announced on Twitter that her daughter had tested positive for coronavirus while she and her family had gotten negative results. She said she would take the test again in two days and that her infected daughter had already gone into quarantine.

Saturday's cases, 144 among residents and 31 among arrivals from abroad, took the total of infections up to 3,579. It was the highest one-day increase to date. The latest death took the number of fatalities to 47.

Lebanon has seen a spike in cases since it lifted lockdown measures and reopened the country's only international airport on July 1.

Officials have warned that if the spike is not checked quickly, cases could overwhelm the country's hospital as soon as mid-August. They also said they were studying partial closure measures and reiterated calls for people to wear masks.

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