A woman from Syria has become the first person in the sole Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon to test positive for the coronavirus, reported the Associated Press on Wednesday.
UNRWA, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency, said that all necessary steps have been taken, and that the woman in the Bekaa region was transferred to the government-run Rafik Hariri Hospital in Beirut.
“There is always concern of an outbreak in a crowded place like the camps ... but we hope that the measures we are taking with the ministry and others concerned will help us avoid an outbreak,” said Huda Samra, communications advisor for UNRWA in Lebanon.
Samra noted that UNRWA members and staff at Rafik Hariri University Hospital tested 146 people at the Wavel refugee camp on Wednesday, including all those who had interactions with the female in recent days.
She said UNRWA would cover all testing and hospital expenses. At least 3,000 other people live at the refugee camp.
There have been 682 confirmed coronavirus cases with 22 reported deaths so far in Lebanon.
