BEIRUT: Lebanon will begin an overnight shutdown from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., with some exceptions to be announced later, as it steps up measures to combat coronavirus, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said on Thursday. Earlier, Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni issued a circular asking all public institutions to suspend application of an article of a previous circular until further notice, the Finance Ministry statement said. Lebanon’s supreme defense council has advised the government to extend by two weeks a countrywide shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. A two-week extension would keep the country closed until April 12. Lebanon has so far recorded 368 cases of coronavirus and six deaths.