Jordan should not return to a total lockdown scenario yet because the number of locally recorded COVID-19 cases is still low, the spokesman for National Committee for Epidemics, Nathir Obaidat, said during an interview on Roya’s Nabd Albalad on Sunday.

However, if Jordan records more than three cases of COVID-19 from unknown sources within a two-week period, stricter measures will be implemented across the country, said Obaidat.

Reopening Jordanian airports should be postponed, and a date to resume operations should depend on the COVID-19 situation within the country, Obaidat added.

The global COVID-19 situation has changed and countries have started to record higher cases again. Countries which were considered to be ‘green countries’ have changed in a rapid way to yellow due to not adhering to PCR testing, he said.

He believes reopening borders and people not adhering to quarantine measures are the main sources of the COVID-19 infections in Jordan, adding the virus has not come to an end in the country.

The coronavirus case that was recorded in Irbid on Saturday involves a man who did not adhere to quarantine, and the woman who was declared infected with the virus in Mafraq was in contact with someone who also did not adhere to the full quarantine period, Obaidat added.

Truck drivers especially in Ramtha and Mafraq are also considered as one of the main sources of the infection in Jordan, he added.

“We do not know how truck drivers act after they leave the quarantine,” he said, adding that the employees at the borders are at greater risk of contracting coronavirus than other people due to their interaction with those coming from abroad.

A coronavirus test should be conducted 14 days after a person leaves institutional quarantine. Not adhering to precautionary measures is one of the country’s weaknesses in fighting the virus, he added.