AMMAN: Jordan will reopen its airports to commercial flights next month after a near five-month shutdown imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus, an official said Sunday.
The move comes as the country is trying to revive its economy which has been badly hit since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Civil aviation commission chief Haitham Misto told state television that flights from 22 “low risk” countries will be allowed from August 5.
The countries listed by the health ministry include Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Switzerland and Thailand, he said.
Travelers from those countries will not need to isolate for 14 days when they reach Jordan but must be tested for the virus before arriving, Misto said, adding that the list would be updated every two weeks.
Transport Minister Khaled Saif however that those travelers must show proof of having spent two weeks in one of the countries on the list before arriving in Jordan.
Anyone providing false information will be fined 10,000 dinars ($14,000), he said.
The desert kingdom, which has recorded 1,154 cases of the virus including 11 deaths, imposed a tough curfew enforced with drones to curb the spread of COVID-19, before easing policies in early June.
Airports were closed in mid-March and international flights suspended.
The curbs hit cash-trapped Jordan hard. Its economy relies heavily on international aid, tourism revenues and expatriate remittances.
Before the coronavirus struck, Jordan hosted five million visitors a year and tourism accounts for 14 percent of the country’s GDP, employing about 100,000 people.
Tourism earned Jordan around $5.3 billion last year.
Around a quarter of a million people a year used to visit Jordan for medical treatment before the pandemic broke out, bringing in some $1.5 billion.
The country was already in a precarious situation even before the new coronavirus, with unemployment at 19.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Jordan to reopen to ‘low risk’ countries in August
https://arab.news/gaact
Jordan to reopen to ‘low risk’ countries in August
- The move comes as the country is trying to revive its economy
- Jordan's economy relies heavily on international aid, tourism revenues and expatriate remittances
Syrian government foils Daesh plot to attack churches and New Year celebrations
- Bomber kills soldier in Aleppo, detonates explosives injuring 2 others
ALEPPO, DAMASCUS: The Syrian Interior Ministry announced on Thursday that it had thwarted a Daesh plot to carry out suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations and churches, particularly in Aleppo.
The ministry said in a statement that, as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts and careful monitoring of Daesh cells in cooperation with partner agencies, it had received intelligence indicating plans for suicide attacks targeting New Year celebrations in several provinces, particularly Aleppo, with a focus on churches and civilian gathering areas.
The ministry added that it took preemptive measures, including reinforcing security around churches, deploying mobile and fixed patrols, and setting up checkpoints across the city.
During operations at a checkpoint in Aleppo’s Bab Al-Faraj district, security forces intercepted a suspected Daesh member who opened fire. One internal security soldier was killed, and the attacker detonated explosives, injuring two others.
Daesh recently increased its attacks in Syria, and was blamed for an attack last month in Palmyra that killed three Americans.
On Dec. 13, two US soldiers and an American civilian were killed in an attack Washington blamed on a lone Daesh gunman in Palmyra.
In retaliation, American forces struck scores of Daesh targets in Syria.
Syrian authorities have also carried out several operations against Daesh since then, saying on Dec. 25 they had killed a senior leader of the group.
