Three cases of new strain discovered in Jordan, says minister
Three cases of the more contagious Indian variant of Covid-19 have been found in Jordan, authorities said days after relaxing pandemic control rules.
Those infected had not travelled abroad.
“Two cases were recorded in Amman and one in Zarqa in people who did not travel, which confirms that the emergence of mutated cases does not necessarily have to come from outside, but rather as a result of specific reproduction,” Health Minister Firas Al Hawari told broadcaster Al Mamlaka TV.
Dr Al Hawari said the infection surge in Jordan this year had caused the same mutations as the Indian variant to occur on their own.
“We always said that these mutations are expected and that they would not necessarily come from the outside,” he said.
The B1617 variant contains two mutations to the outer “spike” portion of the virus that attaches to human cells.
He said cases of Brazilian and South African strains were also detected in Jordan without infected people having come from abroad to spread the new strains.
The minister said that seven people who arrived in Amman’s airport from India through the Gulf at the weekend had been placed in a two-week quarantine, although they tested negative for the virus.
But Dr Al Hawari said he was “optimistic” that vaccines available in the country would help contain the new mutation.
“We call on people to take them, and quickly,” he said.
Although vaccinations in Jordan started in January, officials say only 7 per cent of Jordan’s 10 million people have been given at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
The announcement of the more infectious variant that is thought to be contributing to the massive rise in cases and deaths in India in recent weeks could hinder the Jordanian government’s goal of easing most coronavirus rules by July.
On Saturday, the first plane carrying East European tourists in a year arrived in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba.
Jordanian officials yesterday said that 26 more people had died after contracting the coronavirus, bringing the total to 8,897 deaths.