page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan
section_title: 15–21 March
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan / Timeline / March 2020 / 15–21 March
caption_attribution_description: English: Jordan River Crossing
context_page_description: The COVID-19 pandemic in Jordan is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. On 2 March 2020, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first case in Jordan.
  As soon as reports about a novel coronavirus in China emerged in early 2020, Jordan's National Epidemics Committee and Health Ministry on 26 January designated certain hospitals to treat infections and established several protocols to deal with the arrival of the coronavirus to the country, five weeks before the country recorded its first case on 2 March. Despite the fact that Jordan had only one confirmed coronavirus case on 14 March, the government suspended schools, banned public gatherings and closed the borders and airports in response to the rapid spread of the virus in countries surrounding Jordan and around the world. On the morning of 15 March, the government implemented a plan to quarantine arrivals in the country before the borders and the airport were completely shut down on 17 March.
context_section_description: On 15 March, the Minister of Health Saad Jaber announced that there were 11 new cases who had tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of positive cases to 12. The number of cases reported included 5 Jordanians who had recently returned to the country from other parts of the world, 6 French tourists, and one Iraqi. Later that day, an additional case was confirmed, bringing the total number of positive cases to 13.
  On 16 March, the Jordanian government confirmed 4 additional cases - 2 of the cases were for a Jordanian man and his daughter who returned to Jordan from Spain, and 2 cases were for 2 Jordanians who were in close contact with a positive case, later in the same day 6 more cases were confirmed that were in close contact with a patient who came from Spain. 6 additional cases were confirmed lately that day for people who went to a wedding in the city of Irbid and confirmed that the groom was one of the 6 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 29.
  On 17 March, the government confirmed 6 additional cases, one of the cases was a nurse who arrived to Jordan from Palestine 5 days prior. She was tested to check if she had the virus after showing symptoms, and it was confirmed that the test was positive, increasing the number of cases to 35. The female nurse was working at the women's orthopedic department at Al-Bashir Hospital. All her colleagues at the department, and people she came in contact with, including her family were tested and underwent the 14 day quarantine procedure.  Five more cases were confirmed later that day, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 40.
  On 18 March, at 01:00 am, the Spokesman for the Jordanian National Committee for Epidemics Natheer Obaidat announced that the total number of COVID-19 cases in Jordan has reached 48, including one recovery. He also mentioned that the 14 new cases reported on Tuesday, March 17, were the infected citizens who arrived from abroad and others that had direct contact with the infected. During the afternoon of 18 March, 4 cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 52 cases. Around 8:00 pm on the same day, 4 more cases was confirmed (from those quarantined), bringing the total number of the cases to 56.
  On the evening of 19 March, 13 additional cases were confirmed, from which 11 were those who mixed with the infected, and one was from the Irbid wedding, and the 13th case was a quarantined case, bringing the total number of the cases to 69. The nationality of the new cases were eight Jordanians, one Filipino, one Argentinian, two Iraqis, and one Lebanese. By now, there were 4,892 people quarantined, 1,837 in Dead Sea hotels, and 3,055 people in Amman hotels.
  On 20 March, around 8:30 pm the Jordanian Government reported 15 additional cases, 3 of the cases were for 3 people from the same family whose sister was infected and came to Jordan from Norway, and 3 other cases were in close contact with people from the Irbid wedding, and 2 of the people that are quarantined in one of the hospitals, and 3 cases for people who were in close contact with an infected case, and 3 other cases were confirmed differently, and the last case have not been confirmed how he/she was infected, bringing the total of the cases to 84, including the only recovery case.
  On 21 March, around 8:15 pm, the Jordanian Minister of Health announced 15 new cases in Jordan, including 5 from the Irbid wedding, 3 quarantined in the hotels, 2 Iraqis infected from their parents, 1 infected from a previously infected brother, 1 infection in a Jordanian university, 1 of unknown origin, 1 from foreign Medical Staff, bringing the total number of cases to 99, including one recovery.
caption: Jordanian authorities close all tourist sites to prevent the spread of COVID-19
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