Ammon News -

 Minister of Health, Nazir Obeidat, said that the battle against the Covid-19 virus is still ongoing, adding: "the citizen is the hero of the battle, and the weapon that we must all use is more commitment to wearing masks and physical distancing."

"The improvement of the epidemiological curve of the coronavirus produces positive results, but this does not mean the end of the pandemic, especially since the number of infections is still significant," Obeidat said in a press conference in the Prime Ministry.

Regarding vaccinations, Obaidat said that the ministry will soon announce several agreements with companies to secure Covid-19 vaccines, and the ministry is working, under royal directives, to provide vaccines for the virus from different sources and to obtain the largest portions of vaccines to give to Jordanians soon, pointing out that it was agreed to buy quantities from the Oxford Vaccine in the future, which carries a positive feature and does not need a temperature of minus 80 degrees.

The Health Minister pointed out that instructions will be issued tomorrow, specifying the costs of treating Covid-19 patients in private hospitals, in a manner that ensures a fair pricing for the hospital and the patient.

He said that the priority is to use field hospitals for Covid-19 patients so that other hospitals would be able to treat other patients, indicating that the equipment needed for intensive care will be ready upon receipt of field hospitals and the start of receiving patients this month, which constitute an important support for the Ministry's hospitals.

Obaidat noted that there is coordination between ministries of health and finance with regard to the government's budget to combat the virus, stressing that the government has prioritized the issue of the pandemic, while a special fund has been allocated for this purpose.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Ministry, officer in charge of the Coronavirus situation, Wael Hayajneh, said that work had begun to establish a fourth field hospital in the southern city of Aqaba.

In the press conference, Hayajneh said that the rate of positive tests today was about 16 percent, which is the lowest rate achieved over the past days, indicating that the occupancy rate in intensive care rooms is 50 percent, and the occupancy rate in regular rooms is 34 percent, while the use rate of ventilators amounted to 31 percent and 1622 patients are currently receiving treatment in hospitals.