Media minister provides update on status of essential services in Kingdom

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), in cooperation with security bodies, is following up on the work of banks and money exchanges, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said on Tuesday, commending the public’s adherence to health protection regulations.

Speaking during a press briefing at the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management, Adaileh reiterated the CBJ’s decision to expand the working hours of banks and exchange offices to operate from 10am to 3pm every day except for Friday and Saturday.

To avoid overcrowding, the minister called on the public to postpone any “unnecessary” banking transactions during this period.

Vans will deliver ATMs to a number of the Kingdom’s villages and remote areas to ease access to these services, he said, noting that this move is a response to complaints from elderly citizens and people with disabilities about the difficulty of accessing banks on foot.

He also stressed that hospitals, emergency centres and out-patient clinics are only receiving urgent cases, while public healthcare centres’ services are limited to disbursing medication and coordinating the delivery of medicine to those who cannot reach healthcare facilities.

Private clinics and laboratories are closed, he said, excluding emergency care centres.

Referring to the evacuation of people who were being quarantined at Amman and Dead Sea hotels, he said that the process is “going well”, highlighting the cooperation of those being released, security bodies and the government.

He also pointed out that a number of released people have not adhered to the government’s self-isolation instructions, warning that there will be legal consequences for violators and stressing that the security bodies are following up on the matter, as violators signed legally binding commitments to put themselves under self-isolation for 14 days.