Schools will start on September 1 but with new health and safety protocols, said the Minister of Education, Tayseer al-Nuaimi on Sunday.

New regulations to be implemented across schools will differ according to the COVID-19 situation in Jordan, al-Nuaimi said.

The ministry is considering suspending all school activities, including sports and cultural activities, if Jordan continues to record high numbers of local coronavirus cases, al-Nuaimi added.

If students show COVID-19 symptoms, they will have to undergo home quarantine for 14 days and study via distance learning, he added.

All school staff in Jordan resumed work on Sunday, and they will undergo training on new health measures in preparation for students' return to schools, the media spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Abdul Ghafour al-Quraan told Roya.

The ministry, in partnership with the authorities, has formed different plans for all possible scenarios that could occur later on with the health situation in the country, he added.

Schools will be disinfected and students must remain a distance of two metres from one another during break time, he said.

Other health measures will be implemented based on the development of the COVID-19 situation in the Kingdom, he added.

However, the ministry cannot provide PCR tests for about two million students, he added.