Jordan mulls imposing full curfew to contain COVID-19

AMMAN -- Jordan said on Saturday that imposing a full curfew across the country was still a possibility in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said in a statement that imposing a full curfew would be dependent on the rise in the number of coronavirus cases and the developments in this regard.

On March 21, Jordan started imposing a partial curfew, under which people are allowed to shop for eight hours a day. They are only allowed to walk to the stores and banned from driving cars.

Under a full curfew, no one will be allowed to leave the household even for shopping.

The minister said the authorities would crack down on those who break the curfew.

Adaileh also expressed appreciation to Chinese philanthropist and businessman Jack Ma for donating medical supplies and equipment to support the kingdom in its fight against coronavirus.

Jordan's Health Minister Saad Jaber said 13 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Saturday, increasing the total number of confirmed cases to 323, including five deaths.