Jordan announces record daily new COVID-19 cases

Jordan on Wednesday reported 2,648 new COVID-19 cases, its highest daily number since the start of the pandemic as the country faces a major outbreak with a tripling of deaths in just the last two weeks. The surge in the last month has put Jordan’s infection numbers above those of most of its Middle East neighbours and reverses months of success in containing the outbreak. It also accompanies an alarming jump in daily deaths that now average around 30. Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh said although the country had entered a “difficult phase” after widespread community transmission, it would not reimpose a national lockdown.