Coronavirus: Jordan discovers 25 cases of new strain

Health minister announces cases of strain marked by its fast spread as authorities lift major bans to contain the pandemic

Jordanian Minister of Health Nazir Obeidat watches as a woman prepares to receive a dose of vaccine against the coronavirus disease at a hospital in Amman, Jordan. AFP

Jordanian authorities discovered 25 cases of the new coronavirus variant first reported in Britain, the health minister said on Thursday, a day after authorities lifted most pandemic control measures.

Health Minister Nazir Obeidat told the official news agency that “the discovery was made through DNA testing” and most cases were travellers who came to Jordan from abroad.

He said the coronavirus in the 25 cases "showed the same symptoms ... known about the new strain".

The authorities on Wednesday lifted a curfew that had been in place since November on movement all day Friday, and said that schools will reopen with smaller class sizes starting in February.

The new strain, which has been found in Mexico, South Africa and Australia, spreads fast, prompting authorities in those countries to take stricter measures to halt a wider contagion.

Most of Jordan’s official 4,091 deaths and 311,000 infections have been recorded since a surge of cases in October, prompting the government to reimpose a curfew in November.

Most of the economy stayed open since the summer of 2019. But in November the authorities ordered businesses such as gyms and wedding halls and shisha places to close. Schools have been mostly shut since the beginning of last year.

The authorities insisted on holding elections for the mostly nominal parliament amid the surge of the pandemic on November 10, and turnout was a record low at less than 30 per cent.

Officials said that the rate of increase in infections had declined in the past few weeks, and Jordan's King Abdullah this week instructed the government to ease the coronavirus measures, saying the public heath situation in the country had stabilised.

A curfew from midnight to 6am is in place but the government on Wednesday also allowed gyms, swimming pools and public parks to reopen.

At the same time the government started an inoculation campaign to vaccinate one fifth of Jordan's 10 million population against the coronavirus.

About 200,000 people have so far made the required online registration to take the vaccine, well short of the two million target.

Public health specialists estimate that up to 1.5 million people in Joran have been infected, although the number has not been confirmed by testing.

More than half of the population of the country is under 24 years old and is believed not to have been significantly harmed by the pandemic.