24 patients recover from virus as 8 new cases bring Kingdom’s total to 389

AMMAN — Eight new coronavirus cases were recorded on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in Jordan to 389, Minister of Health Saad Jaber announced.

During a joint press briefing at the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management with Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh, Jaber said that the new cases include three people from a building in an Amman neighbourhood and one person who became infected through contact with his father, who also has the virus and has been suffering from pneumonia.

The new confirmed cases also include a married couple and another person whose sources of infection were unknown at the time of the briefing. 

The minister also announced 24 new recoveries in the Kingdom, including 20 recovered patients from Prince Hamzah Hospital, three from King Abdullah University Hospital and one from Queen Alia Military Hospital.

The Ministry of Health has decided to increase the number of epidemiological inspection teams in Amman to 40 in order to expand the inspection and monitoring of any unknown cases, Jaber said, adding that this is indicative of the government’s intention to relax work suspension orders.

The minister also announced that one of the residential neighborhoods in the Nasr area, east of Amman, is being isolated after three new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the neighborhood during a random check conducted by the inspection teams on Saturday.

Jaber told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the epidemiological inspection teams are continuing their work in the neighbourhood to investigate the source of the infections and test the contacts of those infected.

Also speaking during the briefing, Adaileh said that one of the eight new coronavirus cases recorded in the Kingdom on Sunday is an employee at the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management, noting that he was infected while on leave and was not present at work.

Adaileh said that the patient resides in an area that has been isolated since April 6, adding that he stopped working before the isolation of the area and tested positive for the virus while he was on leave.

Information suggests that he was infected by coming into contact with people infected with COVID-19 in his area of residence, not at his workplace, Adaileh said.

As a precautionary measure, all workers and those who frequently visit the national centre were tested, including ministers, officials and employees whose work requires them to be present at the centre, he noted.

Adaileh said that both he and Health Minister Saad Jaber were also tested and that their results came back negative, adding that “the usual time of the briefing was delayed tonight while waiting for the results to be confirmed”.

He said that all the centre’s facilities were properly sterilised and that all the necessary measures were taken, stressing that presenting the briefing from the centre is evidence that the situation is reassuring and that the crisis cell is continuing its work at the same pace.