Jordan reports high adherence to COVID-19 protocols in schools as students return

Jordanian pupils wearing protective face masks attend class for the first time in nearly a year in Amman on Feb. 7, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 12 February 2021
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Jordan reports high adherence to COVID-19 protocols in schools as students return

  • Adherence to health and safety regulations related to the infectious coronavirus disease in schools was at 97.7 percent

DUBAI: Jordan’s education ministry has reported a high compliance to COVID-19 health protocols as more than 773,000 students went back to their classrooms this week, almost a year after all educational institutions were shut down.

Adherence to health and safety regulations related to the infectious coronavirus disease in schools was at 97.7 percent during the first week of students’ gradual return to physical learning, education officials said, according to a report from state news agency Petra.

The attendance rate of in-class education at public schools reached 84.4 percent, compared with about 17 percent of those who opted for distance learning.

The education ministry last month launched a guidebook on COVID-19 safety for students and educators as schools reopened for the second semester.

Jordan confirmed 1,807 new coronavirus cases overnight, bringing its caseload to 341,984. Additional 10 fatalities related to the disease were also reported, pushing the country’s death toll 4,421.


Syrian Interior Ministry foils terror plot, arrests cell members

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Syrian Interior Ministry foils terror plot, arrests cell members

  • Security forces make arrests as cell attempts to set up Grad-type rocket launchers for attacking populated areas
  • Investigations reveal suspects were planning more attacks, had contact with external groups

LONDON: Syria’s Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that it had thwarted a planned attack in the Mezzeh area of Damascus and had arrested more members of a terror cell preparing strikes on populated areas of the capital.

Security forces arrested members of the cell as they attempted to set up Grad-type rocket launchers. They, along with other cell members arrested last week, are accused of attacks targeting the Mezzeh area and a nearby military airport.

Forces seized the launching platforms before they could be used. Investigations revealed that the suspects were planning more attacks and had contact with external groups, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The ministry announced earlier this month the arrest of members of a terror cell linked to attacks in the Mezzeh area and its military airport, after weeks of surveillance of rocket launching sites in Daraya and Kafr Souseh.

Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic said that the launching platforms and drones used by the cell in the attacks had been sourced from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, the SANA added.