COVID cases witnessed 34.5% drop last week — Bilbeisi

AMMAN — The ninth epidemiological week spanning between February 26 and March 4 recorded 39,979 virus cases, compared with 60,940 cases during the eighth week, marking a drop of 34.5 per cent, adviser at the Prime Ministry for Health Affairs and the official in charge of the COVID-19 pandemic Adel Bilbeisi said on Monday.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Bilbeisi said that the ninth week witnessed 97 deaths compared with 156 deaths in the eighth epidemiological week, marking a drop of 38 per cent, noting that the epidemiological condition has been witnessing drops since the sixth week.

A total of 196,406 PCR tests were conducted in the ninth week, down from 306,527 tests in the preceding week, marking a 36 per cent decrease, which can be attributed to the cancellation of conducting PCR tests for arrivals at the Kingdom’s border crossings.

The number of patients currently receiving care for COVID-19 in hospitals stands at 603, down by 27 per cent compared with the eighth week that recorded 832 patients, he added.

The share of tests that returned a positive result, known as the positive rate, over the last week stood at nearly 20.4 per cent (the ninth week), up from 19.9 per cent in the eighth week, the advisor said.

There are currently 67,959 active COVID-19 cases in Jordan, down from 116,364 cases in the preceding week, marking a 42 per cent drop, Bilbeisi said.

On the national vaccination programme, he said that the number of shots administered during the ninth week stood at 17,161 for the first dose, 26,417 for the second, and 32,945 for the booster jab, totaling 76,523 shots, compared with 108,649 shots during the eighth week, marking a 30 per cent drop.

In this regard, Bilbeisi called for increasing vaccination turnout, which is the “basic means to face the pandemic”, especially the third jab that increases immunity up to 80 per cent.

The sixth week of the pandemic during 2022 was the highest in terms of infections during the fourth wave with registering some 136,000 cases.