Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe has tested positive for coronavirus and will be isolating for two weeks, local media reported Wednesday.
No information is available on his condition yet.
Lebanon has been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, with at least 400 daily cases since last month, with the virus showing no signs of slowing its spread, even after lockdown measures were imposed and lifted recently.
Wehbe was appointed as foreign minister on Aug. 3, one day before the deadly Beirut Port blast, and hours after former Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti had handed in his resignation to then-Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
Wehbe’s tenure did not last long, as Diab’s government resigned on Aug. 10, in the wake of the Beirut Port explosion.
He remains minister in caretaker capacity. However, by the time he comes out of isolation a new Cabinet is expected to have been formed, as Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib is in the second week of the 15-day deadline to form a new government, as promised by Lebanese politicians to French President Emmanuel Macron during his second visit to Beirut on Sept. 2.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
