On the Beirut seafront, Prime Minister Najib Mikati opened the “Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Emirati-Lebanese Hospital Center for the Treatment of COVID-19 Patients.”

PM Mikati was accompanied by Minister of Health Firas Abiad, former Minister Dr. Ghattas Khoury, the hospital’s medical staff, and a large number of media professionals on a tour of the facility provided by the United Arab Emirates.

“From this spot, I look outside and see the markers of the great calamity that devastated Beirut on August 4, 2020, and in this area, we inaugurate the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Center for the treatment of COVID illnesses,” PM Mikati said in his remarks.

Great appreciation to the UAE and, in particular, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed for this tender and his ongoing interest in Lebanon, and Lebanon must remember that the Emirates enhance giving and foster love without expecting anything in return. Thank you very much, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, and let us not forget that this specific hospital was the result of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s good and meritorious efforts, which I applaud from this vantage point.

I wish he were here with us, but God willing, he will be in Beirut shortly.
I must also mention His Excellency the Minister of Health, Firas Abiad’s, tremendous effort and professionalism in both his work as a doctor and his ministerial performance.

From this exact spot, I call on citizens to follow the government’s health rules, and we resolved in all of our meetings to be practical and stand for the citizen, who should enhance his own safety and the safety of those around him. With God’s help, this pandemic will be over, and this hospital will be changed into a place where fundamental needs can be met, as well as a place for discourse in Lebanon.