Authorities take measures to curb spread of coronavirus

AMMAN — After news of the Kingdom's first coronavirus case broke on Monday, ministries, factories, schools, private hospitals and other entities have rallied behind the Health Ministry on the front lines of its preventative measures against the virus.

On Monday, a Jordanian citizen who arrived in Jordan from Italy two weeks ago tested positive for the virus. He was housed in a quarantine centre for days prior to being transferred to the epidemic isolation ward at Prince Hamzah Hospital. 

The Health Ministry on Monday also published a statement in which it said that the number of people in quarantine at the time of publication stood at 43, while cases that had completed the 14-day quarantine and tested negative reached 204. 

Awareness

Education Minister Tayseer Nuaimi on Tuesday issued a circular to all education directors, urging them to continue distributing awareness brochures on ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in schools. 

In the circular, Nuaimi called for providing public and personal health necessities in schools, keeping the environment clean and educating students on the importance of maintaining personal hygiene. 

He also urged the directors of Jordan’s education directorates to conduct field visits to follow up on and monitor measures being taken in schools around the Kingdom. 

On Monday, Health Minister Saad Jaber said that if the number of Jordan’s coronavirus cases reaches 20, schools will be closed and public gatherings will be banned.

The Health Ministry has published information on its social media accounts outlining preventive measures, which include regular hand washing, avoiding crowded places, avoiding kissing when greeting others, cleaning surfaces frequently, eating food containing Vitamin C and covering the mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing. 

Food with high Vitamin C content includes oranges, pepper, kiwi, guava, lemon, broccoli, strawberry, tomatoes and sweet potatoes, according to the ministry. 

Fake news

Following the news of the confirmed case on Monday, a flow of information spread on websites and social media outlets — from advice to ridicule to unsubstantiated claims about the virus.

A local news outlet on Tuesday morning published an article citing Director of Prince Hamzah Hospital Abdulrazzaq Khashman as saying that a treatment for the coronavirus with an effectiveness rate of 80 per cent has been found. According to the report, the vaccine was imported and will be available in the Kingdom soon.  

The Jordan Times contacted Khashman over the phone to confirm the report. “That article was not accurate and contained false information,” Khashman said. “People know that if the World Health Organisation found a medicine, it would have been announced globally.” 

“My words were clear: We are following up on international news regarding a treatment, and if it is found, we will exert efforts to import it,” the director stressed

He noted that all the cases in quarantine in the Kingdom thus far “appear to be negative”, adding that only the one confirmed case remains in quarantine at Prince Hamzah Hospital. 

Precautions 

Also on Tuesday, Health Minister Saad Jaber announced that he will be moving his office to Prince Hamzah Hospital to “directly supervise the situation”. 

He noted that all those who were on the flight from Italy with the infected citizen two weeks ago are being summoned in accordance with protocol, while those who were in contact with the confirmed case and were tested “appeared not to be infected”. 

The Private Hospitals Association (PHA) sent a statement to The Jordan Times on Tuesday in which it voiced its support to the Health Ministry in combatting the novel coronavirus and leveraging its resources in cooperation with member hospitals around the Kingdom.

In the statement, PHA President Fawzi Hammouri said that, since the beginning of this year, all of the Health Ministry’s instructions on dealing with the coronavirus were implemented in private hospitals, noting that health cadres have been trained to detect the symptoms of the virus. 

Hammouri also said that testing for the coronavirus is only performed at the Health Ministry’s central lab in cooperation with the World Health Organisation and the ministry’s communicable diseases directorate. 

There are rooms prepared in accordance with international standards to be utilised in case the ministry requests private hospitals to offer quarantine wards, he said. 

Hammouri also noted that 73 private hospitals in the Kingdom are “ready” to cooperate with the ministry. 

President of the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry Fathi Jaghbir affirmed that Jordanian factories working in the production of disinfectants, hand sanitisers and masks “are able to cover the needs of Jordan’s citizens”.

During a press conference held in Amman on Tuesday, Jaghbir called on citizens to purchase Jordanian products.

He also urged the public not to rush to purchase and store these materials, as they “will be available in abundance” in the local market after many Jordanian factories increased their production and directed it to the national market.