Coronavirus: Jordan’s king orders government to ease restrictions

King Abdullah says the public health situation is improving

A member of the Jordanian health ministry's epidemiological investigation team, takes a random nasal swab to test for Covid-19, from a man leaving the King Abdullah I mosque following the Friday noon prayers, in the capital Amman, on December 18, 2020. AFPShow less

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told the government on Tuesday to ease coronavirus restrictions, a day before the country begins its vaccination campaign.

The king said in remarks quoted by the official news agency that the health situation is “witnessing a marked improvement”. He was addressing a meeting of government officials.

The king directed the government to "open the schools and sectors in a considered way that protects the citizens and the national economy”, the agency said.

A surge of coronavirus deaths and infections in October prompted the government to re-impose a curfew in November.

Although most of the economy remained open since summer last year, businesses such as gyms, wedding halls and shisha places were ordered to close. Schools have been mostly shut since the beginning of last year.

Elections for the mostly nominal parliament were held amid the surge of the pandemic in Jordan on November 10.

Most of Jordan’s official 4,076 deaths and 310,000 infections have been recorded since October.

But officials said that the rate of increase in infections has declined in the last few weeks.

The government aims to vaccinate 2 million people out of Jordan’s population of 10 million.

Official figures showed that Jordan’s gross domestic product contracted by three per cent last year, compared with two per cent growth in 2019, which capped a decade of economic stagnation.

Unemployment is officially at a record high of 23.9 per cent.