AMMAN — Clerks at the largest cemetery in Jordan barely have
a moment to themselves as people rush to pay for graves to bury relatives amid
a record surge of deaths from COVID-19.
اضافة اعلان
The cemetery on the outskirts of the capital saw at least 50
burials on Tuesday, a day after the health ministry announced a 109 COVID-19
deaths, the kingdom's highest daily tally.
"We have no time to scratch our heads," said Ahmad
Jaber as he completed a 50 dinar invoice for a plot at the Amman municipal
cemetery while bereaved relatives waited in line.
The surge in the last two months, blamed on the fast spread
of the variant first identified in Britain, has put Jordan’s infections and
deaths above most of its neighbors and reverses months of success in containing
the outbreak.
The government, which says there are 3,334 COVID-19 patients
in hospital, is facing a crisis with some wards at capacity, especially in the
capital and surrounding provinces where over 60 percent of the country's 10
million population live.
"We hope the daily infections don't continue this way,
otherwise there will be a real problem in the availability of isolation rooms
and intensive care units," said Fawzi Hammouri, the head of Jordan's
private hospital association.
Coronavirus wards in 27 private hospitals are now at 90
percent occupancy and intensive care units are at 78 percent capacity in and
around the capital.
Private hospitals are considering scrapping non-urgent
procedures and outpatient clinics, steps taken by public hospitals earlier this
month, to create more space.
Some officials have suggested the government should use
sports stadiums, refurbish old hospitals or set up beds in schools.
"The infections are heading for more increases," said
Interior Minister and acting Health Minister Mazen al Faraya.
To spare the economy, Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh has
so far avoided a two-week lockdown recommended by medics.
The government earlier this month extended a night curfew,
ordered a full Friday lockdown and imposed stricter penalties on violators of
social distancing rules.
Emergency Ward Overwhelmed
At Jordan University hospital, a 100-bed ward for COVID-19
patients has been full for the past week and medics struggle to keep those patients
separate from others with serious ailments, said hospital director Islam
Massad.
"I hope we can control this and numbers fall because
the situation is getting very difficult," said Ahmad Saafeen, head of
emergency ward.
The situation is slightly better outside big towns, where
intensive care unit capacity is at 30 percent to 50 percent, according to
official data.
But trust in the public health service is at a record low
with gross negligence exposed after nine people, mostly COVID-19 patients, died
earlier this month when medics ignored depleted oxygen supplies.
The scandal means Khasawneh is facing his toughest challenge
since being appointed last October, politicians say.
Anger over the crisis, which has pushed unemployment to a
record 24 percent, sent hundreds of demonstrators on to the streets earlier
this month, defying the curfew and calling for Khasawneh's removal.
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