ammonnews.net

Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The government is temporarily quarantining truck drivers arriving in the Kingdom, as a precautionary measure, in the Azraq town, Zarqa, until a quarantine center is established, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said Saturday.

In an NCSCM's briefing on COVID-19, Adaileh said Prime Minister Omar Razzaz had chaired a Crisis Cell meeting at the NCSCM today for a discussion on the latest developments on COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The meeting emphasized that the Kingdom is a "wonderful" model for dealing with the pandemic, as the country had managed to record zero cases for more than a week, before the streak was broken two days ago, he said, reassuring Jordanians: "With more commitment, cooperation and patience, we will be able to return to the positive state in which we were in."

The meeting reviewed and reassessed the plans, which ad hoc teams are working to draft for different sectors, he said, adding that this came as the country is dealing with new developments with regard to the virus, and following government's series of decisions to ease curfew restrictions, and as millions of Jordanians return to work.

Following the Mafraq incident, in which a trucker who infected with the virus invited scores over for an iftar banquet in his home, infecting 35, Adaileh said that work undertaken to set up quarantine center for truckers arriving in Jordan from abroad has been boosted, saying that as many as 100 caravans will be established there.

To that end, a camp will also be established for truckers arriving from abroad, he pointed out, as all truckers will be temporarily quarantined in military schools in the Azraq town, near the eastern borders with Saudi Arabia, until the quarantine center is ready to take them in.

The meeting also discussed the possibility of back-to-back transfer at the borders, in which a trucker arriving in the Kingdom unloads their load at the borders, where a second driver loads them in their truck and enters the country.

A plethora of hot topics were also discussed at the meeting, chief of which is the return of public sector employees to work after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, as Adaileh said that the government will soon issue a safety guidance for reopening the sector.