Video: Lebanese school sprays down students amid coronavirus outbreak

A Lebanese school in the southern suburbs of Beirut sprayed down students with sterile material in a bid to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, a viral video being shared online showed.

The video of the incident reportedly took place at the al-Bayan School in Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier on Tuesday, according to the Janoubia news website.

Other photos shared on Twitter showed reported staff members dressed in hazmat suits outside the campus checking the temperatures of students as they arrived at school.

Lebanese journalists and activists were quick to criticize the school for the measures which they deemed “extreme” and spreading “paranoia.”

“Happening in a school in #lebanon .. according to @WHOLebanon Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body. Spraying such substances can be harmful to clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth),” Lebanese journalist Larissa Aoun tweeted.

Lebanon confirmed its second case of coronavirus on Wednesday and said the patient was quarantined in a Beirut hospital after returning from a religious trip to Iran.

WHO Lebanon said in a statement that spraying alcohol or chlorine on one's body indeed cannot kill COVID-19, or coronavirus.

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