A coronavirus wave ravaging Jordan should peak soon, a senior Jordanian health official said on Tuesday, as deaths and infections continued to mount.
Authorities announced last month that Jordan had entered a third wave of the pandemic as officially recognised deaths from the coronavirus exceeded 10,000 and more than a million people had been infected.
“If we are not at the peak of this pandemic then we are very close,” said Adel Belbeisi, an infectious diseases official.
“Cases, God willing, will steadily decline,” Mr Belbeisi told official television.
The sharply rising coronavirus infections and deaths threaten to undermine what the government describes as an economic rebound, including slight improvement in tourism.
The economy is officially forecast to grow 2 per cent this year, compared with a 2 per cent contraction in 2020.
Speculation has been mounting that the government could reimpose lockdowns abandoned in the middle of this year, despite official assertions that there would be no return to coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Belbeisi said new infections in Jordan rose last week by 10 per cent compared with a 17 per cent increase the week before and a 30 per cent rise two weeks before that.
“The rate of increase in infections is declining,” Mr Belbeisi said. “Our situation is good.”
He said 45 per cent of coronavirus beds were full, twice as many as a few weeks ago, but that there was excess capacity in the system to deal with further surges in patients requiring hospital care.
“We need co-operation from the citizens,” Mr Belbeisi said, urging vaccination, adherence to social distancing and avoiding parties and gatherings.
Official data shows that 40 per cent of Jordan’s population of 10 million has been vaccinated.
The authorities required last month that anyone entering businesses or government departments show a vaccination certificate but said gatherings would not be banned, including for new year.
Traffic was light at a normally busy intersection in downtown Amman on Tuesday. Shops and stalls that cater to tourists were almost empty.
“Business is dead,” said one ice-cream seller. “But at least there has not been a return to curfews.”
Latest Health Ministry data shows that 24 people died from the pandemic in the last 24 hours, bringing total deaths to 12,048.
Amro, a lawyer who has been vaccinated, said he tested positive for the coronavirus last week, just before he was about to take a plane to the Emirates, which required taking a PCR test.
He said by phone from home, where he is quarantining, that he infected his two daughters, both girls, who have a 38 degree fever.
“I did not have any symptoms, maybe because I am vaccinated,” he said. “I was spreading the virus without knowing.”
ODI FIXTURE SCHEDULE
First ODI, October 22
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Second ODI, October 25
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Third ODI, October 29
Venue TBC
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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 Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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Price: From Dh149,900
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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