Jordan closes dozens of stores after ice cream vendor found Covid-19 positive
Jordan closes dozens of stores after ice cream vendor found Covid-19 positive
Jordanian authorities in the northern city of Jerash are scrambling to contain an outbreak of coronavirus after an ice-cream vender tested positive.
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Jordan is closing dozens of shops amid the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis [AFP/Getty]
Jordan has closed 39 stores in the northern city of Jerash after an ice cream seller tested positive for coronavirus, The New Arab's Arabic-language service reported.
The epidemiological investigation committee in the Jerash Governorate Health Directorate closed all the stores which the seller visited as the kingdom scrambles to contain the outbreak.
Jordan faced a similar set back in its containment of coronavirus over the weekend when dozens of new cases of Covid-19 were reported.Jerash's Director of Health Ahmed Al-Qadri said on Tuesday that six field survey teams had tested hundreds of people who had contact with the ice-cream vendor.
The outbreak is believed to be almost exclusively linked to one truck driver, who tested negative on his return to Jordan from Saudi Arabia but later developed symptoms.
The ice-cream vendor is one of the contacts of the truck driver, The New Arab's Arabic-language service reported.
Previous to the flare-up, Jordan had reported zero deaths and no cases for seven consecutive days.
The truck driver hosted a meal to break the fast which caused at least 45 people to become infected in a number of cities.
Jordan said on Sunday all restrictions on economic activity would be lifted. Containment measures will stay in place and returning truck drivers will be quarantined for 17 days on the border.
The kingdom took some of the toughest lockdown measures in the world to contain an outbreak of Covid-19, with people confined to their homes for weeks at a time and anyone breaking the curfew facing tough fines.
Jordan took these measures when only 35 cases had been reported. The country has recorded 579 coronavirus cases and nine deaths as of Wednesday.
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