Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Jordan Armed Forces - Arab Army and security agencies will step up its monitoring of the public's commitment to the nationwide lockdown imposed a few weeks ago to curb the COVID-19 outbreak in the Kingdom, State Minister for Media Affairs, Amjad Adaileh said on Saturday.

Speaking at the daily COVID-19 press briefing, Adaileh said the army and other security agencies will use drones, surveielance camepras and other measures to ensure full adherenece to the curfew and prevent any violations.

The minister added that his Majesty King Abdullah is following up on all efforts to combat the disease, the caseload of which has reached 323 by this evening, noting that their Majesties the King's and the Queen's efforts culminated in the provision of 100,000 COVID-19 testing kits donated by Chinese businessman, who also donated 30 BiPAP machines, 300,000 medical facemasks, 50 infrared thermometer guns, and 10,000 sets of protective clothing for the use of medical personnel.

According to Adaileh, the government will annouce in the next few days a set of measures to help mitigate the ramifications of the crisis on the private sector. The minister also indicated that the amounts donated and pledged to the Himat Watan COVID-19 fund suprassed JD39 million while the Minisry of Health's fund has collected donations totalling JD14 million. Further donations to the Ministry of Social Development Al-Khair account have reached JD754,000.

The ministers slammed those whom he called "exploiters of crises" who prioritized their narrow interests and sought to "trade in the health and safety of Jordanians", saying security agencies cracked down on a workshop that was manufacturing counterfeit and unsafe facial masks.

Adaileh, who is also govenrment spokesperson, acknowledged that a government hospital made a mistake by announcing the names of contacts of a confirmed COVID-19 case, sayinng the government is keen on preserving the privacy of patients and contacts and that such mistake will not occur again.