Jordan officially reopened on Saturday, ending one of the strictest Covid-19 lockdowns in the world as officials declared the country at “moderate risk” of an outbreak.
Restaurants, factories, mosques and markets opened for the first time two-and-a-half months, while restrictions on movement between cities and governorates were lifted and the curfew hours reduced to between midnight and 6am.
New daily cases have been in the single digits for past two weeks, after what officials cautiously describe as a "successful" first stage of lockdown measures and contact tracing that has limited Covid-19 cases to 784, with just nine deaths, in a country where most of the 10.5 million residents live on 5 per cent of the land.
But Jordanians rushing out after spending weeks mostly indoors still face stringent restrictions in offices, places of worship, restaurants, markets and transportation.
Cafes enforced social distancing rules by removing tables and limiting staff and capacity to 50 per cent, while some restricted seating to outside.
“We haven’t seen each other since the lockdown,” said Hana, 27, as she sat down with friends for a coffee and cake at a cafe in west Amman. “We are sitting outside and abiding by regulations as best we can, but we can’t live in fear forever.”
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Coronavirus in the Middle East
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At gyms, changing rooms were locked, showers prohibited, and members obliged to wear a mask at all times and restrict their visits to one hour. Some gyms launched an online booking system for members to reserve a slot, while others even encouraged people to bring their own weights.
As public prayers resumed at mosques for the first time since March 17, worshippers returned wearing gloves, masks and carrying their own prayer rugs to comply with health regulations.
At mosque in west Amman, all copies of the Quran had been removed; placards reading “pray here” were taped in rows across the carpet to ensure worshippers remained two metres apart; and the ablution area was closed.
"Thank God, we are back in the house of God, but everything feels so different," Khaled Waleed, 49, said as he left the mosque, still wearing his mask. "You have to plan your prayers as if you were planning a trip."
There was heavy foot traffic at market in central Amman and near bumper-to-bumper traffic on the streets, yet few people were carrying bags or making purchases.
“It is great for things to be open, but people’s pocketbooks are still closed,” saids Mohammed Nazzal, an employee at a shoe shop.
Prime minister Omar Razzaz noted on Thursday that Jordan had avoided the fate of countries who delayed their Covid-19 response and “paid the price twice” in terms of health and economic costs. He hoped that the economy would be able to rebound quicker as a result.
However, government spokesman Amjad Adaileh cautioned in a press statement on Saturday that the kingdom would return to a partial or even a full lockdown if new infections reached double digits for seven days.
The only sectors in Jordan that remained closed as of Saturday were schools, universities, parks, amusement parks, cultural events and festivals.
Passenger flights to and from the kingdom remain suspended, with officials voicing hope of resuming between Amman and countries with “similar” low Covid-19 rates as the kingdom by late July.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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New Zealand 15
Tries: Laumape, J Barrett
Conversions: B Barrett
Penalties: B Barrett
British & Irish Lions 15
Penalties: Farrell (4), Daly
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec
Top speed: 232kph
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
On sale: May or June
Price: From Dh259,900
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Company%C2%A0profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Bundesliga fixtures
Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn (4.30pm)
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)
Sunday, May 17
Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)
Monday, May 18
Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
