BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Interior Ministry Friday announced a weeklong lockdown of 111 towns and villages across the country after a series of record coronavirus daily infection cases.

In town villages listed, residents are to stay home and wear masks if forced to go out, the ministry said in a statement.

Lebanon has recorded 40,868 COVID-19 cases since February, including 374 deaths.

The full lockdown of these areas will begin at 6 a.m. on Sunday (Oct. 4) until 6 a.m. on Monday (Oct. 12), according to a notification issued by the ministry. This will include the banning of all social and religious gatherings. Services for health and food will remain open. Travelers will be permitted to go to and from the airport. No curfew was specified.

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s media office said the ministerial committee to follow up on coronavirus agreed on introducing the "zonal system," also known as the "traffic light system," as a way to determine the containment measures to be implemented in different areas.

In red areas where there is “high risk," or more than eight cases per 100,000 people over 14 days, residents will be required to stay at home and there will be a local lockdown. — Agencies