Kingdom is ‘on right track’ in dealing with COVID-19, majority of Jordanians believe — poll

AMMAN — A total of 91 per cent of Jordanians believe that the Kingdom is “on the right track” in regard to the government’s procedures in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, while 85 per cent feel that the government is dealing with the crisis with “full” transparency, a poll showed on Sunday.

The poll, conducted by the University of Jordan’s Strategic Studies Centre between March 22 and March 26, revealed that 83 per cent of the nationwide respondents reject the opinion that the coronavirus is a “normal virus”, while 14 per cent believe that it is a “normal virus”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Between 92 and 62 per cent “strongly agree” with the government’s procedures in dealing with the pandemic, in regard to decisions on quarantining all arrivals in the Kingdom in hotels for 14 days, activating the Defence Law, imposing the curfew, halting prayers at mosques and suspending classes at schools and universities.

A total of 62 per cent of respondents said that they are “for” setting certain hours for citizens to secure their basic needs, while 37 per cent said that curfew hours should be extended until the crisis ends.

According to the survey, 54 per cent are worried about the outbreak of the virus and the increase in the number of infected cases, 11 per cent are worried about an inability to secure basic food commodities and 10 per cent are concerned about the public’s underestimation of the virus and lack of commitment to the government’s regulations.

As for working remotely, 24 per cent of the sample indicated that working remotely is “highly successful”, while 45 per cent of respondents think that e-education for school students at public and private schools is “successful”. 

In the poll, 30 per cent of respondents said that the coronavirus crisis will continue for less than 30 days in Jordan, while 23 per cent said that it will last for more than 30 days, Petra reported.