AMMAN — Minister of Health Saad Jaber announced on Wednesday that four new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Jordan, bringing the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 278.

 

During a joint press briefing at the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management with Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh, Jaber said that the new cases include two people who came from Spain on March 15, while the other two cases were among the contacts of patients in Jerash and Irbid.

 

The minister added that six coronavirus patients recovered and were discharged from Prince Hamzah Hospital.

 

He also announced that the ministry decided to open healthcare centres from Sunday to Thursday, with services to be restricted to newborn checkups.

 

During the briefing, which was streamed live on Facebook, Adaileh said that a series of meetings took place on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments regarding decisions taken to deal with the novel coronavirus and to assess measures adopted.

 

His Majesty King Abdullah is continuing to follow upon the decisions made by the  government and related bodies, he said, noting that the King, with the attendance of HRH Crown Prince  Hussein,  chaired a meeting via teleconference, with discussions focused on the importance of protecting the Kingdom’s economy and the private sector, as well as alleviating the financial impacts of the pandemic and the curfew.

 

His Majesty also drew attention to the importance of maintaining coordination between the government and the private sector in terms of plans for the economy, focusing on means of sustaining the private sector and maintaining job security for private-sector employees, Adaileh said.

 

The Central Bank of Jordan also launched a JD500 million funding programme for small- and medium-sized enterprises in a bid to support these institutions amid the temporary work stoppage due to the coronavirus crisis, he added.

 

Expressing thanks to partners, Adaileh highlighted the importance of coordinating volunteer efforts with related bodies to ensure that precautionary measures are taken.

 

Regarding material assistance, Adaileh said that the Hashemite Charity Commission is the official body authorised for receiving in-kind aid. 

 

The government  has managed to provide cash assistance for more than 141,000 families across the Kingdom, while the number of distributed parcels of in-kind aid has so far totalled more than 90,000.

 

The upcoming 24-hour lockdown, which involves the closure of permitted commercial stores and establishments and a ban on movement for the public across the Kingdom, will begin at midnight on Thursday, the minister said, stressing that the aim of this decision is to ease the work of the epidemiological inspection teams.