Over half of Beirut health facilities ‘non-functional’—WHO

Workers remove debris from a hospital that was heavily damaged in last week’s explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.  (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

More than half of Beirut’s healthcare facilities are “non-functional” following last week’s deadly portside explosion, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Following an assessment of 55 clinics and health centers in the Lebanese capital, “we know now that just over 50 percent are non-functional,” said WHO’s regional emergency director Richard Brennan at a virtual press conference in Cairo.

Three major hospitals were non-functional and another three operating at well below normal capacity, he said.