A man suspected of being infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus was apprehended at Beirut’s airport and returned to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital after he refused to remain in hospital pending the results of the virus test.

Media reports had said that a “coronavirus patient” had escaped from the hospital overnight and headed to the airport where he was “arrested.”

Health Minister Hamad Hasan announced Monday that the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon is still “limited,” days after he declared that the country was no longer in the containment phase.

In an interview with Radio Voice of All Lebanon, Hasan said the virus is in “a limited and not a general outbreak phase.”

Lebanon on Monday received a French medical shipment aimed at assisting the country in confronting the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and French Embassy Charge d'Affaires Salina Grenet-Catalano attended the handover ceremony at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The General Secretariat of the Lebanese Parliament on Monday announced in a statement that all the offices at the parliament building will be shut for a week over coronavirus concerns.

The statement said because of the general public health conditions and out of keenness for the health of lawmakers and their visitors and based on Speaker Nabih Berri’s instructions, it has been decided to:

Security Forces arrested a man who opened random gunfire and threatened to blow himself up on Lebanon’s South highway, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

Speaker Nabih Berri described as “positive” the announcement of PM Hassan Diab late last week, but noted that he should have dwelt more on the problematic issue of electricity, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

Lebanon on Sunday confirmed four new coronavirus cases, taking the overall tally to 32, according to the state-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

A statement issued by the hospital said it received 100 cases at its coronavirus section over the past 24 hours.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Sunday encouraged creditors to cooperate with the Lebanese government after the country announced that it will default on a Eurobond debt for the first time in its history amid a severe financial and economic crisis.

“Honest statement of PM Hassan Diab about the failure of the previous economic model opens the way out of the crisis,” Kubis said in a tweet.

Unknown assailants opened fire at dawn Sunday at the headquarters of the Kataeb Party in Beirut’s Saifi area, hitting it with six gunshots, the party said.

In a statement, Kataeb said the attackers used machineguns, calling on the state and its security agencies to “unveil the identity of the assailants and instigators.”

U.N. Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis on Sunday called on Lebanon to ensure that women are “more involved” in the country’s political life, in a statement marking International Women’s Day.

“Lebanon is encouraged to take measures to ensure women are more involved and allowed to actively take part in the realization of change and in shaping the image of their country’s future through greater inclusion and participation in decision-making processes,” Kubis said in his statement.