Managing Public Health in a Fragile Consociation: Lebanon between Wars, Explosions and the Covid-19 Pandemic

The impact of Covid-19 has deepened the Lebanese chasms. The international extensions of the local factions added to the fragmented nature of the Lebanese political identity. This exacerbated the role of religion in the management of public health, while the management of the pandemic threatened the fragile Lebanese system. Narratives and ambiguities widened then the gap between religious groups and between them and the central government. Fitting a tradition of sectarianism, the pandemic enhanced the tensions which traditionally have become more manifest at times of crisis.