Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday halted emergency laws enacted at the start of the coronavirus pandemic three years ago, which gave authorities wide-ranging powers in the kingdom of 10 million. A royal decree "stopped the work" of the emergency laws as of Sunday, the official news agency reported. The Minister of Government Communications, Faisal Shboul, said the authorities would be "monitoring any damage" that could occur as a result. The laws were activated in March 2020 and gave the authorities the power to impose curfews, ban assembly, interfere in businesses and limit recourse to normal laws. On Friday, the World Health Organisation said the coronavirus was no longer a world-wide emergency, lifting a major rationale behind imposing emergency laws in Jordan and other countries. At least 14,105 people died of the coronavirus in Jordan as of August 19 last year, the last time the Ministry of Health made available public data about the pandemic. The number of vaccinated people in the kingdom stood at 4.5 million, less than half of the population. Jordan's economy, which has been stagnant for more than a decade, took a major hit during the pandemic. But tourism, a major source of foreign currency in the kingdom, has started to recover since last year.
