BEIRUT: Lebanon registered a record number of 12 deaths due to coronavirus complications Tuesday and 532 new cases, bringing the total number of cases so far to 13,687.

There have now been a total of 138 deaths due to coronavirus complications since the illness was first detected six months ago.

The weekly death rate is higher than the world average. COVID beds are almost full, warned Head of Rafik Hariri University Hospital Dr. Firass Abiad in a series of tweets earlier Tuesday.

The Health Ministry has recorded 40 deaths among individuals over 80, making up 28.9 percent of Lebanon's coronavirus deaths so far.

There have been 37 deaths among individuals aged 70 to 79 (26.8 percent), 23 deaths among individuals aged 60 to 69 (16.6 percent) and 25 among individuals aged 50 to 59 (18 percent).

Individuals under 50 make up 9 percent of deaths (13 in total).

Abiad had previously warned that a rise in hospitalizations and critical COVID-19 cases was imminent due to the alarming surge of coronavirus cases in the country. Lebanons public hospitals are almost at capacity and have been overwhelmed following the Beirut Port explosion, which has left at least 7,000 injured.

Of the new cases, 525 were found among the local population and seven among travelers. Cases were detected among 8,557 PCR tests administered in the last 24 hours.

Domestic infections with coronavirus have rocketed this month, with 69 percent of all local cases recorded between Aug.1-24. Put another way, 8,300 local cases were captured during that period, out of a total 12,039 since Feb. 21.

The positivity rate among tests carried out on the domestic population stood at 6.6 percent in August. It stood at 0.82 percent in June and 2.14 percent in July.

The country is undergoing partial lockdown for two weeks in a bid to slow the transmission rate and ease pressure on the health system.

The Lebanese people should not be asked to choose between disease or hunger, for them or for their loved ones as the country deals with an unprecedented economic meltdown and the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, Abiad tweeted.

"Ordinary people going through an unprecedented financial crisis, a once in a century pandemic, and the largest non-military explosion in modern history, have had enough.

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