‘8 members of family in Ramtha test positive for COVID-19’

AMMAN — Eight members of a single family in Ramtha District in Irbid on Thursday were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus, medical sources told Al Rai Arabic daily.

Epidemiological investigation teams were isolating a cluster in Ramtha following the return of a Jordanian doctor to the Kingdom, according to the sources, who added that the doctor showed some symptoms of flu and coughing that required him to be transferred to a hospital, where he tested positive for the virus.

The doctor returned to Jordan two week ago from a European country he visited to take final exams, the source said, stressing that he observed a two-week home quarantine.

The father of the doctor confirmed that his son “did not interact with people and did not go shopping”.

The father also said that his son committed to the quarantine regulations and stayed home for 15 days without seeing anyone.

As for the reason behind other members of the family becoming infected, his mother said that the virus might have been transferred to his father and brother when he returned from the airport.

The mother added that she and the other infected members of the family are in “good condition” in quarantine, noting that tests showed that one of her daughters had tested negative, as reported by Al Rai.

Also on Thursday, Wael Hayajneh, the official overseeing the coronavirus situation in the north, said that 20 epidemiological investigation teams are monitoring the spread of the coronavirusmainly in Irbid and the northern governorates, tracking suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases and people who have been in contact with confirmed cases.

These teams are expected to gather 250 samples from people who were in contact with confirmed cases, Hayajneh said, noting that some of these teams are also operating in Ramtha, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He also called on the public to take the Friday curfew seriously in this phase, which he described as “definitive”, with the possibility of being a “turning point” in either curbing or spreading the pandemic.