Mother of 11-year-old boy quarantined in Dead Sea isolation areas calls for home quarantine instead of institutional quarantine for children who test positive for coronavirus, in an interview with Roya on Sunday.

The issue of quarantine for children under the age of 18 has sparked widespread controversy in Jordan.

Citizens are demanding home quarantine for underage COVID-19 patients, as is the case in most other countries.

This demand came after the local authorities decided to quarantine an 11-year-old boy, Faisal, in the Dead Sea, after he tested positive for coronavirus.

The child’s mother confirmed that Faisal is in good health and did not suffer from any symptoms, but has been transferred to the isolation area in the Dead Sea.

Faisal is suffering from anxiety in isolation, she added.

The Ministry of Health demanded to quarantine the boy, in accordance with the established health protocols and Faisal was informed that he had coronavirus in a way that reassured him and did not scare him, she said.

He waited three days for the COVID-19 investigation team to come after his diagnosis was confirmed, which left him feeling tired and anxious.

Faisal tested positive on Tuesday and was taken to the isolation area in the Dead Sea on Friday, she said.

“The health investigation teams came at 11pm on Friday evening. Faisal and his father, who accompanied him, stayed there until 5am on Saturday morning, on board of the bus on the way to the Dead Sea,” his mother said.

Faisal’s father did not have coronavirus but had to sit within close proximity to many positive cases on the bus.

The mother expressed her concern regarding the food and said Faisal was given a breakfast meal including fava beans, even though he is allergic to them.

“What would have happened to Faisal if his father had not accompanied him to the isolation area and started eating beans,” she added.

If Faisal had been quarantined at home, supervised by his parents, he would have been better off than in a room in the Dead Sea, she said.