Sharjah24 – Reuters: Jordan reported 109 new deaths from COVID-19 on Monday, the highest daily death toll since the pandemic surfaced in the Middle Eastern kingdom a year ago, the health ministry said.
The ministry also reported 9,269 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative total to 544,724 cases along with 5,985 deaths.
The government, which says there are 3,277 COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals, is facing a crisis with some hospitals reaching capacity, especially in the capital Amman and outskirts where over 4 million people live.
In the central provinces that include the capital Amman and the industrial city of Zarqa, which account for two-thirds of the country's population of 10 million, occupancy in intensive care wards in hospitals was at 78% on Monday.
Health officials say among the more troubling trends was a positivity rate of over 20% - the infection rate per person tested - indicating the real numbers are likely to be significantly higher.
The surge in the last two months, blamed on the fast spread of the variant first identified in Britain, has put Jordan’s infection numbers above those of most of its Middle East neighbours and reverses months of success in containing the outbreak.
It forced the government to reimpose a lockdown on Fridays, extend a night curfew and delay the opening of schools while imposing stringent restrictions on public gatherings and stiffer fines for not wearing masks and ignoring social distancing.
Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh told businessmen his government was for now ruling out a long lockdown which health officials have recommended to stem the pandemic, saying it would devastate an aid-dependent economy that last year saw its worst contraction in decades.
"The government is doing its best to avoid it (a long lockdown) with all its means as we believe we cannot cope with its economic and social repercussions," Khasawneh said.
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