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New Virus Hotbed in Jordan Raises Number of Infections

New Virus Hotbed in Jordan Raises Number of Infections
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New Virus Hotbed in Jordan Raises Number of Infections

New Virus Hotbed in Jordan Raises Number of Infections

Coronavirus infections rose in Jordan on Friday after a truck driver residing in Mafraq Governorate, east of Amman, tested positive.

The driver had not self-quarantined upon his return to the country around 14 days ago after his test results came back negative, yet he began showing symptoms on Wednesday.

The authorities this week tested people who had come into close contact with him, raising the number of infections by 24, only a day after Jordan reported no new cases for eight consecutive days.

Among those infected are the man’s family members and friends, as well as a nurse at a public hospital.

The driver has also infected people in Irbid and Ramtha cities, while another case was discovered in a student who returned from Russia last week.

Citizens held the government responsible for the new infections, accusing it of not enforcing quarantine measures on truck drivers crossing the land border into Jordan.

Health Minister Saad Jaber announced on Friday that quarantine centers are being set up on the border, where drivers would stay for 17 days, a period long enough to discover if a person is infected or not.

Activists on social media wondered how the government imposed a 17-day quarantine on students returning from abroad, while similar measures were not applied to truck drivers.

Infections among drivers were first recorded in mid-April.

News has also circulated that some 245 truck drivers haven’t been tested upon their arrival in Jordan.

Jordan has been preparing to begin lifting measures so that life would return to normal gradually through new government decisions that were announced mid-last week.

The Kingdom has recorded 508 cases since its outbreak early March, while nine elderly suffering from chronic diseases have died.

The Jordanian army, in coordination with the security services and the Queen Alia International Airport management, announced on Friday the end of the first evacuation phase of about 3,000 students from abroad.

The first phase began on Tuesday and ended early Friday.

Director of the Coronavirus Crisis Cell Operations Brigadier General Mazen El Faraya has earlier announced a plan to return about 23,000 stranded students and citizens from abroad.

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Arab World

Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Israeli Army Forces Patients Out of a North Gaza Hospital, Medics Say

A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A Palestinian man walks with children in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on December 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas fighters.

A statement from the Israeli military said the Indonesian Hospital was being used by fighters to launch attacks against Israeli troops and that it "facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, medical personnel, and patients from the area both before and during the operation".

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.

He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops.

Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the Kamal Adwan hospital since Monday, medics said.

Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on Oct. 5.

Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.

An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold.

"Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabaliya," he said. "We are being very careful."

NEW STRIKES

Meanwhile, Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes on Tuesday.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.

A new bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has been reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.

Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.