Health Ministry outlines standard COVID measures for public, private institutions

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health announced the standard measures to be taken in the event that a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case appears in a public or private institution, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The procedures include granting a 10-day leave for any infected employee who does now show any symptoms.

Employees suffering from mild symptoms shall isolate themselves for a period of 13 days, provided that the last three days are without symptoms. After recovery, the employee can return to work without undergoing a PCR test. 

The ministry emphasised that all institutions must be equipped to quickly respond to the existence of any case of COVID-19, as the situation may escalate into an outbreak.  

An outbreak is defined as the presence of three or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 among workers during a period of two weeks. 

Institutions must inform the concerned directorate of health affairs in the event that one or more infections appear, and the concerned directorate suspends working hours and closes the institution for a period of 24 hours for the purpose of sterilisation.

In cooperation with the institution’s administration, the directorate will limit the number of employees who came in direct contact with the infected (face-to-face contact for 15 minutes, for a distance of 1.5 metres and less).

According to the procedures, the institution must inform its direct contact employees to quarantine themselves for a period of 10 days with the coronavirus testing done twice.

The first test will take place when the infection is discovered and the second test will take place before returning to work.

The directorate then assesses the epidemiological situation in the institution through a questionnaire to evaluate the degree of spread of the virus within the institution.  

Accordingly, the continuity of work at the institution is decided. 

The institution is required to meet 80 per cent of the conditions stipulated in the questionnaire.

If the institution fails to comply with the recommendations of the directorate or is closed down for more than 24 hours, the directorate reports the violation to the Infectious Diseases Department.