February 11, 2021
BEIRUT (AP) In the middle of the destroyed Beirut neighbourhood of Gemmayzeh, a small team in masks and gloves were sanitising and packing oxygen machines to be sent to those in need.
It’s the latest venture of a Lebanese civil group that arose with the coronavirus pandemic and has been finding new avenues to help as the country’s crises expand.
“No one is exempt from COVID-19. Nobody. Nobody has super-power immunity,” said one of the founders of Baytna Baytak, Arabic for Our Home is Your Home, Melissa Fathallah.
“We saw that our own relatives and our colleagues are suffering with this, we decided, okay, we are going to start another fundraiser and to specifically focus on the oxygen machines.”
heaping pressure on the nation’s healthcare system.
There has been great demand in the region and around the world for medical staff
.
, many of whom were already looking to work overseas because of the country’s
economic crisis.
Dr Youssef Bakhach, general secretary of the Lebanese Order of Physicians in Beirut, said one in five doctors had already left the country or was planning to do so.
We estimate that 16 to 20 per cent of Lebanese doctors have already left or are planning to leave. The Gulf will always be an attractive destination
Dr Youssef Bakhach, Lebanese Order of Physicians
Ammar Abd Rabbo
At the same time, Lebanon s economy and health sector have deteriorated during the pandemic. We lost everything we had and have nothing else to lose, blast victim Mehieddine Lazkani said.
Mehieddine Lazkani, a Lebanese student and part-time hospital worker, is still reeling from the Beirut port blast.
Six months ago, his father was killed in the blast and like many Lebanese people, since then, his personal and collective grief has only deepened.
Lazkani is the main breadwinner in his family, making less than $100 a month; all four of his siblings are students. When it comes to the atmosphere at home, we re still in a state of shock, Lazkani told Insider. We still have nightmares. Our father was the main pillar of our household.
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