AMMAN —
The Lower House’s Health and Environment Committee has
recommended banning all public events and gatherings for the New Year amid a
growing number of
COVID-19 infections and reported cases of the new variant, Omicron.
اضافة اعلان
Head of the committee, Farid Haddad, said that based on the
panels meeting and
Ministry of Health officials, it was decided to recommend a
ban on "all kinds of parties and gatherings to prevent placing additional
pressures on the healthcare sector." The committee will request a
discussion of the issue with the government in the coming days.
Haddad said the government should be obligated to compensate
businesses that have booked and incurred the cost of signing agreements with
artists and performers for scheduled events taking place during the festive
season. “Otherwise, citizens will pay the price of canceled parties,” he said.
Haddad, a physician, said that the behavior of the new mutant
Omicron remains unclear, “so under the circumstance, there is no room for
risk-taking.”
Health officials say precautionary measures should be in
place not only because of
Omicron but because of the increasing number of COVID-19
Delta variant infections. The
Epidemiology Committee has reported 70,000 active Delta cases in the Kingdom,
and the number is expected to continue to rise.
Azmi Mahafzah, a former minister and professor
of microbiology and immunology, expects the third wave of the pandemic to reach
its peak next week before it begins to subside.
"Focus now should be on vaccinating people and on preventive
measures, as the current wave has been largely due to failure to commit to defense
orders and refusal by many to take the vaccine due to ignorance and suspicions,"
he said.
Mahafzah believes that the authorities have not done enough
to talk people into getting immunized, although vaccines have been made
available and procedures simplified. "We are now left in a situation where
Jordan is regrettably among Arab countries with the least turnout for the vaccine,”
he said, cautioning citizens against being influenced by “misleading social
media messages” that allege vaccine-related risks.
Mahafzah blamed the government for what he described as
“failure to reach a large percentage of the population, who remain unvaccinated,
primarily in the age group 60-70 years old, particularly that most fatalities
are recorded in this category."
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