Head of the “Lebanese Medical Social Gathering” and the representative of the European Middle Eastern International Medical Association in Lebanon, Professor Raif Rida, was surprised, in a statement, “of the rapid decline in the number of COVID-19 cases announced by the Ministry of Health, at a time when societal immunity did not exceed 40%, and a clear contradiction with the increasing numbers in European and American countries, where the immunity of their people exceeded 70%.

He declared, “We have the right to ask about the reality of Omicron type 2, which is more dangerous than Delta. Is it diagnosed in all laboratories, as developed countries complain of the difficulty of diagnosing it?” Are all our laboratories capable of diagnosing it?”

He pointed out that “many people who are not well-off, do not have the financial ability to conduct a PCR examination, nor has the ministry implemented a free day to accurately count and track cases, in addition to the clear evasion by not wearing a mask, gatherings and overcrowding without supervision, which increases cases, especially in schools and others, not to mention what is being said about cases of falsification of the results of PCR tests.”

He considered that “these numbers cannot be relied upon under such conditions,” and demanded “to identify laboratories capable of accurately diagnosing the second type of hidden omicron, and to strictly monitor the results of the tests.”