Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Minister of State for Media Affairs and the official gov't spokesperson, Ali Ayed, announced that the Prime Minister, Dr. Bisher Khasawneh, has issued Defense Orders Nos. 19 and 20.
The minister said Defense Orders 19 and 20 aim to implement the measures recently announced by the government, regarding the comprehensive curfew on Friday, the partial night lockdown, and the tightening of control mechanisms over adherence to health prevention measures.
Speaking during a press briefing held at the Prime Ministry on Thursday, he said the most prominent measures contained in Defense Order No. 19, adding citizens will accordingly perform Friday midday prayers nationwide on foot for a 1-hour period, according to the minister.
Defense Order No. 19 - according to Ayed - granted procedural powers in this regard to the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, which come to preserve the citizens' health and safety.
In this regard, Friday midday prayers were at the forefront of the gov't discussions on how to implement the comprehensive curfew on Fridays, pointing out that the government is "keen" to protect the citizens' health during the prayer performance.
The government, he said, needed more time to announce how to facilitate access to mosques during the comprehensive curfew on Fridays, to check on the field readiness to monitor compliance, to include these measures in Defense Order No. 19, and to evaluate the success of previous expeiences.
The new defense order kept the nurseries' work as is currently, as the Minister of Social Development was authorized to take the appropriate decision-making powers to continue or close them according to the epidemiological situation in each region, he noted.
Regarding the work of nurseries, he reiterated that the government pledged to be "courageous" to announce amendment or development of any measure and evaluate it to achieve its main purpose, which is to protect citizens' health in the first place and achieve balance with economic and social priorities.
The government, he noted, has decided to organize the opening and closure of nurseries according to the developments of the epidemiological situation in each region, the number of cases and the hotspots at the regional level, according to a flexible mechanism that the Minister of Social Development would assume.
This decision came after assessing the consequences of the decision to close nurseries on health sector workers, including health and medical cadres, who represent the first line of defense in this difficult epidemiological challenge, especially mothers, and the government's keenness to protect efficiency and capabilities of the health sector, according to the minister.
Defense Order No. 19 - according to Ayed - the Minister of Labor and the Minister of State for Investment Affairs were also authorized to amend work methods and education in institutes, vocational training institutions and centers that are not subject to the Education Law, according to the developments of the epidemiological situation.
With regard to the partial night lockdown on the rest of the week, he said , as of next Saturday, the people mobility will be prohibited from 11pm until 6am, while the establishments will be closed from 10pm until 6am with the exception of entities that the Prime Minister decides that the nature of their work requires otherwise.
Penalties and fines will be tightened for violators who do not abide by the curfew procedures, especially offense repeaters among individuals and establishments, he said, pointing out that the fine imposed on individual offense repeaters reaches JD500, and for entities that violate repeatedly up to JD2000 with its closure for a 14-day period.
Defense Order No. (19) tightened penalties and fines on tourist and popular restaurants and cafes to ensure that shishas are not served inside closed halls, and that the tables is at least two meters apart, and that there are six people maximum at each table, according to the minister.
The value of the fine for establishments that repeat this violation reaches JD6 thousand, he announced.
With regard to the most prominent procedures of Defense Order No. (20), he said it included an increase in the number of government and official agencies authorized to monitor compliance with prevention and precautionary measures to hit 12 gov't supervisory bodies, in addition to the Public Security Directorate, with the possibility of hiking the number, if necessary.
The minister pointed out that Defense Order No. (20) also tasked senior officials to implement defense orders in their departments.
The Audit Bureau was also tasked - according to Ayed - to monitor the compliance of public sector employees with defense orders related to the commitment to social distance and put masks.
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