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Jordan Lifts Lockdown on Fridays as Cases Drop

A man attends Friday prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan after the government eased the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, at al-Husseini mosque in Amman, Jordan April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Muath Freij
A man attends Friday prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan after the government eased the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, at al-Husseini mosque in Amman, Jordan April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Muath Freij
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Jordan Lifts Lockdown on Fridays as Cases Drop

A man attends Friday prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan after the government eased the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, at al-Husseini mosque in Amman, Jordan April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Muath Freij
A man attends Friday prayers during the holy fasting month of Ramadan after the government eased the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, at al-Husseini mosque in Amman, Jordan April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Muath Freij

Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs Sakhr Dodin has announced a government decision to lift the weekly lockdown on Friday, allowing citizens to perform evening and Tarawih prayers in mosques.

The curfew was imposed on Fridays in light of the high number of Covid-19 cases, with the last Friday lockdown announced on February 26, after the number of daily cases in February exceeded 4,000, according to Agence France Presse.

“The decision to ease lockdown measures on Fridays was taken at the request of 95 lawmakers,” said Dodin, the official spokesperson for the government.

However, the government decided to maintain curfew hours for both institutions and individuals; it starts at six and seven in the evening and continues until six in the morning the next day for economic sectors and citizens.

“This is the maximum that can be done at present, given the epidemiological situation and the emergence of mutations, the last of which is the Indian one, which has begun spreading in many countries across the globe,” Dudin added.

Jordan recorded on Wednesday 1,910 cases and 47 deaths, bringing the total number of infections and fatalities to 708,000 and 8,754, respectively. Last Sunday, Dudin said that the government aims for a “safe summer” and lifting all forms of restrictions by July.

In a joint press conference of the ministers of information and health, the government linked the decisions concerning precautionary measures to hospital capacities, the availability of intensive care beds and the demand for oxygen equipment.

Dr. Firas Al-Hawari, Jordan’s minister of health, announced that the government is reviewing precautionary measures every two weeks after assessing the epidemiological situation in the country, indicating that Jordan has moved from the first wave of infections to the second in two weeks, with the second wave 30 percent more severe than the previous one.

Hawari revealed that lifting Friday and night-time curfews contributed to the increase in the number of COVID-19 related cases and deaths during the second wave by 48% and 18% respectively, stressing that “had it not been for the restrictive measures in place, the number of cases would have increased by 250%.”

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Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
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Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE

Türkiye’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria's de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria's future, calling for the YPG militia to disband.
Türkiye regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Sunday's visit to Damascus by Hakan Fidan, the first foreign minister to visit Damascus since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow two weeks ago, came amid hostilities in northeast Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast.
Speaking alongside Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Fidan said he had discussed the YPG presence with the new Syrian administration and believed Damascus would take steps to ensure Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"In the coming period, the YPG must come to a point where it is no longer a threat to Syria's national unity," Fidan said, adding the YPG should disband.
The SDF played a key role defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards ISIS fighters in prison camps. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.
Fidan said the international community was "turning a blind eye" to the "illegality" of the SDF and YPG's actions in Syria, but added that he believed US President-elect Donald Trump would take a different approach.
He said the new Syrian administration had told him during their talks that they could manage the ISIS prison camps, if needed.
In a Reuters interview on Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye. He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense minister said Ankara believed Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all of the territory they occupy in the northeast.
Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt support for the Kurdish fighters.
Ankara had for years backed opposition groups looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.
Fidan said all international sanctions imposed against Assad must be lifted as soon as possible to help Syria start rebuilding, offering Ankara's assistance on matters such as infrastructure development.
Sharaa told Sunday's press conference his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.