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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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Syria Authorities Say Torched 1 Million Captagon Pills

A man throws a bag onto a pile of burning illicit drugs, as Syria's new authorities burn drugs reportedly seized from a security branch, in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
A man throws a bag onto a pile of burning illicit drugs, as Syria's new authorities burn drugs reportedly seized from a security branch, in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Authorities Say Torched 1 Million Captagon Pills

A man throws a bag onto a pile of burning illicit drugs, as Syria's new authorities burn drugs reportedly seized from a security branch, in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
A man throws a bag onto a pile of burning illicit drugs, as Syria's new authorities burn drugs reportedly seized from a security branch, in Damascus on December 25, 2024. (AFP)

Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria's largest export during the country's more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.

"We found a large quantity of captagon, around one million pills," said a balaclava-wearing member of the security forces, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Osama, and whose khaki uniform bore a "public security" patch.

An AFP journalist saw forces pour fuel over and set fire to a cache of cannabis, the painkiller tramadol, and around 50 bags of pink and yellow captagon pills in a security compound formerly belonging to Assad's forces in the capital's Kafr Sousa district.

Captagon has flooded the black market across the region in recent years.

"The security forces of the new government discovered a drug warehouse as they were inspecting the security quarter," said another member of the security forces, who identified himself as Hamza.

Authorities destroyed the stocks of alcohol, cannabis, captagon and hashish in order to "protect Syrian society" and "cut off smuggling routes used by Assad family businesses", he added.

- Manufacturing sites -

Since an opposition alliance toppled Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, Syria's new authorities have said massive quantities of captagon have been found in former government sites around the country, including security branches.

AFP journalists in Syria have seen fighters from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group set fire to what they said were stashes of captagon found at facilities once operated by Assad's forces.

Security force member Hamza confirmed Wednesday that "this is not the first initiative of its kind -- the security services, in a number of locations, have found other warehouses... and drug manufacturing sites and destroyed them in the appropriate manner".

Maher al-Assad, a military commander and the brother of Bashar al-Assad, is widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.

Experts believe Syria's former leader used the threat of drug-fueled unrest to put pressure on Arab governments.

Jordan in recent years has cracked down on the smuggling of weapons and drugs including captagon along its 375-kilometer (230-mile) border with Syria.