Coronavirus cases increased after an enormous explosion in Beirut on August 4 that killed over 200 people and flooded the capital's hospitals with the wounded. On 27 September 2020, Gebran Bassil's party said he was infected with a "mild" case of COVID-19 as cases continued to surge throughout Lebanon. In addition, two major prisons in Lebanon, Roumieh Prison and Zahle Prison, witnessed large outbreaks in the last weeks of September, with 377 and 238 confirmed cases respectively. This caused outrage among the prisoners, as they called for the appropriate measures to be taken.