Jordan confirms 19 new coronavirus cases, tally rises to 172

AMMAN — Jordan on Wednesday registered 19 new coronavirus cases, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the Kingdom to 172, according to Health Minister Saad Jaber.

Speaking during a joint press briefing with Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tareq Hammouri and Minister of Agriculture Ibrahim Shahahdeh at the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management, Jaber said that the new cases include five individuals who were in contact with people who had already been infected and attended a wedding in Irbid.

Another eight of the new cases had interacted with infected people and four with a nurse working at Al Bashir Hospital.

One Iraqi resident who received guests arriving from Iraq contracted the virus, in addition to a Jordanian who arrived in the Kingdom from Switzerland on March 11, Jaber noted.

The minister called on citizens to abide by the government’s procedures to contain the pandemic and to assist in protecting the safety of the public.

For his part, Adaileh said that the government will not tolerate any violations of the curfew, as any person who is detected violating the curfew will be fined JD100, and if they repeat the violation, the fine will be doubled and the violator will be referred to security entities.

As for home delivery, Adaileh said that the government has decided to delay this service to give the National Epidemic Committee time to discuss it, with the aim of guaranteeing safety procedures and curbing infection.

Hammouri highlighted several ministerial field visits to governorates to check on the shopping process, during which the teams noted the general commitment of shops to safety procedures and of residents who queued in lines and maintained distance between each other.

Authorities closed more than 20 shops nationwide for violating public safety measures, calling on establishments to abide by price ceilings to avoid closure, the minister said, assuring the public that the Kingdom has plentiful reserves of basic commodities.

Shahahdeh noted that the Agriculture Ministry has started receiving produce from farmers who, for their part, have shown commitment to safety standards and operated with a minimum number of workers.

The minister pointed out that marketson Wednesday received more than 2,000 tonnes of vegetables, 1,000 tonnes of poultry, 1,000 tonnes of yoghurt and cheese and quantities of eggs that are sufficient for two days.