Jordan sees 18 virus cases Sunday, no local infections

AMMAN — The Kingdom on Sunday recorded 18 COVID-19 cases, none of them local, increasing the total number of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic to 1,033.

The new cases include 17 Jordanians who have recently returned to the Kingdom — 16 from Egypt and one from Saudi Arabia — and have been placed at quarantine hotels. The remaining patient is a Jordanian truck driver who entered Jordan through the Omari Border Crossing, according to a joint statement by the Prime Ministry and the Health Ministry. 

Also on Sunday, 17 patients were discharged from Prince Hamzah Hospital and epidemiological investigation teams conducted 5,714 random virus tests nationwide, increasing the total number of tests since the onset of the pandemic to 330,869.  

The first phase of receiving Jordanians coming from abroad through land and marine borders is still ongoing, the statement said, noting that so far a total of 1,230 citizens have returned home from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Iraq and Israel. 

Jordanians stranded in Palestine and Israel on Sunday started returning to the Kingdom through the King Hussein Bridge, with the first batch including 172 Jordanians, the statement said.