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School Year to Begin in Early September in Jordan, Fears of Another Virus Outbreak

A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)
A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)
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School Year to Begin in Early September in Jordan, Fears of Another Virus Outbreak

A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)
A Jordanian child taking a PCR test in Ramtha city on August 17, 2020 (EPA)

The school year is scheduled to being in early September in Jordan, amidst fears of a coronavirus outbreak among students.

Parents are concerned about their children’s return to schools, especially after recording a high number of local infections and the weakness of school infrastructure, mainly in the provinces and remote villages.

Many have also expressed grave concern about the students' non-compliance with public safety measures.

Minister of Education Tayseer al-Nuaimi affirmed that the school year will begin within certain arrangements that will soon be announced.

The ministry is reviewing a number of possibilities on the form of students’ return to schools in some areas, he added in televised statements.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz, for his part, said there are several alternatives that depend on the seriousness of the situation in each area and the developments of the epidemiological situation.

He pointed out that some public and private schools will resume as usual while adhering to health requirements, while others will partially open, and schools located in isolated areas will rely on distance learning.

The Kingdom has seen a surge in the number of coronavirus infections after detecting a defect at the border crossings and the smuggling of infected people, as well as weak procedures taken by the staff there.

Health ministry statistics have revealed an unprecedented increase in the number of cases after recording about 120 infections during the past five days alone.

Authorities have isolated dozens of buildings and institutions in which people infected work or live and in light of official warnings of not knowing the sources of infection.

It has also imposed strict measures by forcing all facilities to shut down and imposing a curfew starting from 10 pm.

A new death from coronavirus was recorded on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths to 12, while the number of infected people amounted to 1,576 since early March.

There are 291 cases that are receiving treatment in government hospitals, and the number of infections is increasing in major cities.

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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria Rescuers, Activist Say Site outside Damascus Believed to Be Mass Grave

This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows a site believed to be a mass grave near Baghdad Bridge in Adra, about 35 kilometers east of Damascus, on December 25, 2024. (AFP)

A key Syrian rescue group and an activist told AFP on Wednesday a burial site outside Damascus was likely a mass grave for detainees held under former president Bashar al-Assad and fighters killed in the civil war.

In a vast walled area located near the Baghdad Bridge, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital, AFP journalists visiting the site saw a long row of graves more than one meter deep, mostly covered with cement slabs.

Several of the slabs had been moved and inside, white bags could be seen stacked over each other with names and numbers written on them. One of the bags contained a human skull and bones.

"We think this is a mass grave -- we found an open grave with seven bags filled with bones," said Abdel Rahman Mawas from the White Helmets rescue group, which visited the site several days earlier.

He told AFP by telephone that the bags, six of which bore names, were "taken to a secure location", adding that "necessary procedures were begun for DNA testing".

He said if additional graves had been exposed it meant other people may have been searching the site, warning people to "stay away from graves and let the relevant authorities handle them".

The site, near the Adra industrial area northeast of the capital, is less than 20 kilometers from the Saydnaya prison.

Diab Serriya, from the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison, said the site was first identified in 2019 through "testimony of an intelligence personnel member who had deserted".

Satellite imagery suggests the site was in use from 2014, he said.

"Probably this grave contains detainees but also former regime or opposition fighters killed in battle," he told AFP by telephone.

The notorious Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomized the atrocities committed against Assad's opponents.

Serriya said "the bags of bones were probably brought from other graves", adding that "the road to discovering who is buried here will be long".

The doors of Syria's prisons were flung open after an opposition alliance ousted Assad this month, more than 13 years after his brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.

The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict.

Mohammed Ali from the Adra municipal council denied residents were aware of the site, which is located near a Syrian army facility.

"It was forbidden to approach it or take photos as it was a military zone," he told AFP.