Traffic Returns to Jordan’s Streets, No New Virus Cases
Arab World
Amman - Mohammed Khair al-Rawashdeh
Life has returned in the cities and roads of Jordan, with the streets of the Jordanian capital Amman filled with vehicles, the movement of which is organized by the day of the week according to an even-odd license plate policy, while around 50 percent of public vehicles are back on the roads. The country has been in lockdown since March, but restrictions are now being relaxed. Shoppers returned to various shops and establishments, while Asharq Al-Awsat noticed that the largest crowds were outside fast-food restaurants after photos of a queue of cars outside one of them were widely shared on social media. The services of barbershops and laundries were also in noticeably high demand. Criticism of the performance of the government's economic team, however, has been pointed. The Former Minister of State for Media Affairs, Muhammad al-Momani, wrote an article in the Jordanian newspaper Al-Ghad in which he criticized the government’s measures, arguing that it failed to create a healthy balance between "the need to preserve public health and to maintain the operations of economic sectors that are the lifeblood of Jordanians". Another former Minister of State for Media Affairs, Samih Al-Maaytah, says that the Defense Law, which King Abdullah II issued by decree on March 17, remains in effect after the number of cases stabilized. Life had already returned to normal in new governorates such as Madaba, Jerash and Ajloun, after the government's previous decision to close them off and allow life to go back to normal there. Restrictions are also gradually being lifted in Mafraq in the east and Irbid in the north; the latter was considered the first coronavirus hotbed in the country. No cases have been recorded since Tuesday, but the government decided to have a total lockdown implemented on Friday, as per Epidemiological Committee recommendations that sparked a debate about the "uselessness of the total lockdown for confronting the spread of the virus." Around 89 out of the 499 of those infected with the virus lie on the beds of government hospitals equipped to treat the virus in Amman after the first symptomatic patient was diagnosed in early March. While the number of deaths increased to 8 after a 40-year-old man died on Tuesday. With the gradual return to normal life, some social media activists began demanding that mosques be allowed open during Ramadan, which prompted the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Holy Places to issue a statement confirming its commitment to complying with the recommendations of the Epidemiology Committee regarding the ban on gatherings, even in places of worship. Moreover, the announcement of a plan to allow the return of Jordanian students from abroad is expected after it had been decided that the first batch, which includes about 4,000 students residing in several European capitals, would arrive at the beginning of May. More than 23,000 requests to return from abroad have been made to date; however, the returnees are required by the authorities to isolate themselves in hotels in the Dead Sea region at their own expense. Concerning the General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (Tawjihi), the ministry's director of the examinations department, Nawaf Al-Ajarma, said that the exams would be taken in early August and that university semesters would begin next fall. The Jordanian government announced that the public sector, schools and universities would have their activities suspended until the end of Ramadan. The private sector, on the other hand, has been invigorated since restaurants and retail stores have reopened as work on building materials and industry also resumed.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2260741/traffic-returns-jordan%E2%80%99s-streets-no-new-virus-cases
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