Beirut does not require the deployment of field hospitals following the major Tuesday blast as the city has enough hospital beds to treat injured people, while the World Health Organization (WHO) is assisting Lebanon by providing 20 tonnes of medical supplies, Dr Elyssar Rady, WHO's national technical officer for Lebanon, has told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2020) Beirut does not require the deployment of field hospitals following the major Tuesday blast as the city has enough hospital beds to treat injured people, while the World Health Organization (WHO) is assisting Lebanon by providing 20 tonnes of medical supplies, Dr Elyssar Rady, WHO's national technical officer for Lebanon, has told Sputnik.
"As Lebanon has a sufficient number of beds and of medical experts and specialists and benefits from high technologies, field hospitals are not actually needed; instead, and due to the unprecedented financial and fiscal crisis, the country has been experiencing difficulties securing medical supplies and medical equipment and implantable devices for main surgeries; the WHO focused on filling this urgent gap by sending already 20 tonnes of medical and trauma care supplies, and is sending PPEs [personal protective equipment] as the COVID outbreak is accelerating and the need for safe medical care is urgent," Rady said.
According to the latest estimates, over 6,000 were injured during the blast, while the death toll has so far surpassed 150 and may rise further as dozens of people were reported missing. According to the authorities, the explosion was caused by 2,750 tonnes of confiscated ammonium nitrate stored for years in a port warehouse.
