16 COVID deaths, 1,855 virus cases recorded Saturday

AMMAN — Sixteen COVID-19 deaths and 1,855 virus cases were recorded in the Kingdom on Saturday, increasing the caseload to 911,270, the government announced.

The new fatalities took the Kingdom’s coronavirus death toll to 11,347, according to a joint statement issued by the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Health.

The share of tests returning a positive result, known as positive rate, stood at 8.14 per cent, while the daily death rate among COVID-19 patients was 0.9 per cent.

A total of 22,799 virus tests were also conducted on Saturday, bringing the cumulative number of coronavirus tests administered since the outbreak of the pandemic to 11,709,248, according to the statement.

The statement added that 2,097 recoveries were registered in hospitals and home quarantine on Saturday, expecting the total number of recoveries after finishing the 14-day quarantine period to stand at 862,360.

The statement added that there are currently 37,563 active COVID-19 cases in Jordan.

A total of 138 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals on Saturday, taking the number of patients currently receiving care for COVID-19 in hospitals to 845, the statement said, adding that 79 recovered patients left hospitals.

On hospital capacities, the statement revealed that in the northern region the occupancy rate of isolation beds occupied by COVID-19 patients reached 26 per cent, ICU beds reached 38 per cent, while occupancy rate of ventilators stood at 20 per cent.

In the central region, isolation bed occupancy rate reached 22 per cent, 37 per cent for ICUs and 13 per cent for ventilators.

The statement added that the southern region registered an isolation bed occupancy rate of 14 per cent, 13 per cent for ICUs and 15 per cent for ventilators.

The cases comprised 671 in Amman, 382 in Irbid, 190 in Zarqa, 97 in Ramtha District, 74 in Balqa, 81 in Mafraq, 22 in Aqaba, 104 in Ajloun, 62 in Madaba, 62 in Karak, 31 in Maan, 24 in Tafileh, 49 in Jerash and six cases in Petra District.

The statement also added that the total number of people who received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine has reached 4,074,863 while 3,667,344 have received their second shot.

The number of people who have registered on the vaccination platform has reached 4,436,488.