Ammon News -

 Minister of State for Media Affairs Ali Al-Ayed on Wednesday announced a set of government measures to deal with the coronavirus, which will go in force as of Saturday.

The measures included reducing the curfew by two hours, during which businesses will be allowed to operate until 11pm and public movement will be permitted from 6am until 12pm, as of Saturday January 1, 2021, Al-Ayed said in joint press conference with Minister of Health, Nazir Obeidat, at the Prime Ministry.

Al-Ayed, who also the government's spokesperson, said the total curfew on Fridays will continue, as well as procedures and arrangements in place for businesses and sectors that are not currently authorized to work, while keeping the percentage of public sector employees in their workplace as is.

Keep stopping direct and indirect flights coming from Britain to Jordan is also among the announced measures, according to Al-Ayed.

The state minister said that all the aforementioned measures will be subject to evaluation and review every two weeks, according to the epidemiological situation at the time, while examining the possibility of taking additional mitigating measures gradually and their impact on the epidemiological situation are measured accordingly.

He explained that these measures, if taken, will be implemented according to precautionary health conditions and determinants that ensure limiting the spread of the coronavirus.

He stressed that identifying government mitigation decisions that can currently be implemented has been done carefully and cautiously, to ensure that they are safe and take into account various health, economic and social dimensions.

Al-Ayed lauded citizens' commitment to preventive and precautionary measures, commending the role of the media and its continuous efforts in raising awareness of the importance of adherence to the means of prevention, and urging citizens to take the initiative to register to take the coronavirus vaccine.

Responding to a question on the possibility of opening schools and universities in the second semester, Al-Ayed confirmed that the government will study this decision according to the epidemiological situation in the Kingdom before the start of the second semester in February, and will announce it in advance.