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Jordan: COVID-19 cases 8 times higher than declared ones

January 16, 2021 at 1:03 pm

Jordanian policemen stop a vehicle at a checkpoint during a COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown in Amman, Jordan on 9 October 2020 [KHALIL MAZRAAWI/afp/AFP via Getty Images]

Jordanian Health Minister Nathir Obeidat has revealed that the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the country is eight times higher than the officially recorded number, The New Khalij reported on Friday.

The minister reiterated that the situation has improved, pointing to the rate of positive results compared to the number of daily tests being less than five per cent.

Obeidat also announced that a number of Jordanians who returned from abroad had caught the new coronavirus variant, noting that they were isolating at home. He confirmed, however, that the number of cases with the coronavirus variant (now 25) is likely to increase.

READ: Jordan moves schools online as coronavirus cases rise

According to the minister, Jordanians are accepting the vaccination, and more people are expected to be vaccinated in the future.

The minister indicated that the infection chain could be broken once 70 per cent of the community have immunity against the pandemic or have been vaccinated.

Jordan currently has 312,851 recorded cases.