Jordan Records 111 Deaths in Highest Daily Toll Since Start of Pandemic

Jordanian pupils return to school for the first time in nearly a year, in the capital Amman, Jordan, Feb. 7, 2021. (AFP)
Jordanian pupils return to school for the first time in nearly a year, in the capital Amman, Jordan, Feb. 7, 2021. (AFP)
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Jordan Records 111 Deaths in Highest Daily Toll Since Start of Pandemic

Jordanian pupils return to school for the first time in nearly a year, in the capital Amman, Jordan, Feb. 7, 2021. (AFP)
Jordanian pupils return to school for the first time in nearly a year, in the capital Amman, Jordan, Feb. 7, 2021. (AFP)

Jordan reported 111 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, the highest daily toll since the pandemic started, the health ministry said.

It reported 6,570 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative total to 611,577 cases along with 6,858 deaths.

The surge since early February, blamed on the fast spread of a variant first identified in Britain, has put Jordan’s infection numbers above those of most of its Middle East neighbors and reverses months of success in containing the outbreak.

It forced the government to reimpose a lockdown on Fridays, extend a night curfew and delay the opening of schools while imposing strict curbs on gatherings and stiffer fines for not wearing masks and ignoring social distancing.

Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh defended the lockdown measures against growing public criticism, saying the government's move had averted a collapse of its national health system where some hospitals are nearing capacity.

He said the government was pinning hopes on accelerating its national inoculation program. The government had bought $100 million of vaccines to speed a vaccination drive that been slow to pick up pace until recently, Khasawneh said.



UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Agency Says Israel Shuts 4 Schools in East Jerusalem

A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
A boy stands outside the gate of the Kalandia vocational training center (KTC), run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which was raided by Israeli forces earlier at the Qalandiya camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces raided four of its schools in east Jerusalem, ordering their closure.

Israel has severed all ties with the agency, known as UNRWA, and bars it from operating in its territory. It says the agency allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, allegations denied by UN officials.

UNRWA said police entered a training center by force on Tuesday, firing tear gas and sound grenades and ordering its evacuation. It said 350 students and 30 staff were present during the raid on the Qalandiya Training Center.

It said police and city officials ordered the closure of three other schools in east Jerusalem, two of which proceeded with the school day.

Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said police did not enter the UN buildings and that Jerusalem municipal authorities carried out the closures. He said police were deployed to protect the city workers, using “riot dispersal” means in one case where a crowd threw stones at them outside a UN facility.

Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, said the raids were an “unacceptable violation of United Nations privileges and immunities,” and a “denial of the right to education for children and trainees.”