King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday paid tribute to the lives lost at Al Hussein hospital in Salt due to oxygen outage, stressing that all those proven to have been negligent in the investigation will be held to account.
Chairing a National Policies Council (NPC) meeting, the King said officials and junior or senior employees must be up to the responsibility, or else step aside to enable those who want to serve Jordanians to replace them.
He said it was absolutely unacceptable to lose a citizen as a result of negligence, according to a Royal Court statement.
Official positions do not serve to offer favors and benefits, he affirmed.
The King dismissed claims that negligence or corruption was part of the culture in Jordan, stressing that Jordanians have always been known for honor and dignity, in line with the values of their ancestors who founded the state.
He further expressed understanding of the difficulties facing Jordanians as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this context, Jordan reported 9,417 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, which is its highest one-day tally since the pandemic started, official health data showed on Monday. It also recorded 82 deaths.
A total of 48,638 virus tests were also conducted on Monday.
The statement added that there are currently 79,723 active COVID-19 cases in Jordan. A total of 491 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals on Monday, it added.