The Minister of Health, Dr. Saad Jaber, has asked private hospitals to provide isolation rooms for suspected coronavirus cases.

In an official letter he addressed to the president of the Private Hospitals Association on Monday, April 13, Jaber said: "Due to the increase in coronavirus cases in Jordan and in order to ensure early detection of cases and limit their spread, please work on preparing isolation rooms for suspected COVID-19 cases."

The Minister also asked private hospitals to collect nasopharyngeal swabs and send them to one of the laboratories accredited by the Ministry of Health. If the samples are positive, the patient shall be taken to Prince Hamzah Hospital in Amman if the case was recorded in one of the central or southern governorates.

However, if the case was reported in one of the northern governorates, the patient shall be taken to King Abdullah University Hospital in Irbid through ambulance vehicles of those hospitals or of the Civil Defence Directorate (CDD).

Jaber added that if the patient couldn't be transferred to a public hospital, he/she shall stay at the private hospital and receive treatment there.

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