A senior Jordanian health official said on Sunday that the country has entered a third Covid-19 wave after infections reached 20,000 a week.
“Jordan entered the third wave,” Adel Al Belbeisi, the country’s top infectious diseases official, told state television.
Official infection rates have risen sharply in the past few weeks. But the government said it does not intend to reimpose curfews and other coronavirus measures.
It lifted most coronavirus restrictions in July, citing possible damage to the economy, which is in retreat. Unemployment is officially at a record high of 24 per cent.
Mr Belbeisi said recorded infections in the week that ended on Saturday rose by 5,000 over the week before, to 20,000. Eight per cent of those who took PCR tests tested positive for the coronavirus, he said.
He called for “commitment to social distances and precautionary measures” and more vaccination.
A second Covid-19 wave hit Jordan in the second quarter of this year.
Government spokesman Faisal Al Shboul said on Sunday that the government intends to issue new regulations in days to “confront the pandemic condition in the country, which has been on the rise”.
He said that from the start of next year, anyone aged above 18 who wants to enter any shop or government department must have received at least two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Currently, 3.6 million people in Jordan fall into this category.
A teacher at a private school in Amman, who is vaccinated, said that several primary classes at his school closed in the past week as infections among pupils spread.
“I hope to make it to the mid-semester break safely,” he said.
The kingdom’s population is 10 million people and the Health Ministry says it has the capacity to administer 100,000 vaccine doses a day. Anyone aged 18 or above is eligible for the shot.
The Health Ministry announced on Sunday 14 new deaths from Covid-19, bringing the number of deaths officially registered as being caused by the pandemic to 11,361.
On Sunday, the ministry recorded 3,579 infections, bringing the total number of recorded infections to 914,849.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 640hp
Torque: 760nm
On sale: 2026
Price: Not announced yet
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
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Racecard
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m
