Lebanon will impose a two-week lockdown to contain a surge in coronavirus infections following the devastating explosion in Beirut two weeks ago.
Markets, shopping centres, gyms and pools will have to close from Friday and there will be an overnight curfew.
Officials reported a record 456 new cases of Covid-19 and two deaths on Monday, and 421 cases on Tuesday.
Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan has warned that hospitals are rapidly running out of space for new patients.
"The situation is unbearable," he told a local radio station on Monday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that Lebanon had done a "very impressive job" of tackling the coronavirus, which has killed at least 107 people in the country since February.
However, before the blast there had been an upward trend in the daily numbers of new cases and the government had planned a partial lockdown to help manage hospitals' caseloads.
Transmission rates have since increased and are expected to further increase in the coming weeks, as many people have been unable to follow precautionary measures, such as social distancing.
