Reopening of additional sectors put on hold as COVID cases surge — gov’t

AMMAN — Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Ali Al Ayed on Saturday announced the suspension of reopening more sectors due to the increase in COVID-19 infections and rising percentage of positive tests.

Ayed said that the higher committee in charge of addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh, was briefed on an assessment of the indicators of the epidemiological situation, such as higher number of infection, higher percentage of positive tests, and increased fatalities especially those caused by the new variant of the virus.

The committee has agreed not to reopen any additional sectors at the current time, all the while continuing the assessment of the epidemiological situation, Ayed said.

The spokesperson added that the higher committee will convene continuously to consider the recommendations of the national anti-epidemiological committee, noting that any updates or measures will be duly announced, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education on Saturday announced that the second stage of resuming in-class education, which includes 10th and 11th graders, will be suspended for one week continuing remote learning due to the epidemiological situation.

The ministry, in a statement, said that students in kindergarten, grades one, two and three and Tawjihi (General Secondary Education Certificate Examination), who have already attended schools since the beginning of the second semester, will continue the in-class and/or hybrid schooling according to the epidemiological update, which is subject to daily assessment, especially amid the spread of the new variant of the virus.

The statement, cited by Petra, added that a daily evaluation of the adherence of the Kingdom’s public and private schools to the health protocols and conditions will be ongoing.