Day: July 14, 2022

Amman, July 14 (Petra) — Temperatures on Thursday are forecast to be around their seasonal average, bringing normal summer weather in the highlands and the plains, while it will be hot in the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD) said in its daily brief.

Clouds will appear at low altitudes, with northwesterly moderate to brisk winds.

Similar weather conditions will persist during the weekend, with cloudy skies and moderate winds, picking up at times.

The highs in Amman and other highlands across the Kingdom today will range between 29 and 31 degrees Celsius, dropping at night to 19C or even 15C in the northern highlands. In the Gulf city of Aqaba, it will be much hotter with mercury reaching a high of 39C and a low of 25C.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, July 14 (Petra) — Despite a recent rise in infections, Jordan is not experiencing a new wave of Covid-19, according to Adel Belbeisi, Health Affairs Adviser at the Prime Minister’s Office and the country’s pandemic czar, who also emphasized that weekly totals do not warrant fear and panic compared to previous waves.

A total of 2,135 infections and one death from the coronavirus were reported in the Kingdom during the 27th epidemiological week of 2022, which ran from July 2 to July 8.

In a statement to Petra, Belbeisi said that 10 to 15 percent of the total cases recorded in the previous epidemiological week required hospitalization, and that only three deaths were recorded in the Kingdom over the previous ten weeks.

He recalled that the first wave of the pandemic outbreak saw 37,000 infections per week, the second 56,000 infections, the third 35,000 infections, and the fourth 135,000 infections per week, which was mostly caused by the Omicron mutant.

Belbeisi emphasized that masks are still necessary, particularly for people with chronic diseases and the elderly, and cautioned that abandoning the legal requirement to wear masks does not mean that people should not be concerned about their health in enclosed spaces and at gatherings.

He also suggested that other indicators, such as hospital occupancy, mortality, the percentage of positive tests, and citizens’ commitment to receiving the vaccine, should be given more consideration than the term “wave.”

Belbeisi explained that the symptoms of infection with the highly transmissible mutation of the omicron COVID variant known as BA.5 are “less fierce” than those of infection with the earlier mutations, noting that the rate of infection with this mutation ranges between 20 and 25 percent of the total number of infections recorded weekly in the Kingdom.

He noted that the number of Corona virus vaccine recipients aged 18 and older has reached 75 percent, which he described as a comfortable proportion in comparison to other countries around the world. He also revealed that the vaccination rate among those aged 60 and older has reached 65 percent

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jerusalem, July 14 (Petra) — Dozens of Jewish extremist settlers early Thursday stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Haram Al Sharif compound in the occupied holy city of Jerusalem, according to a Palestinian official source.

A statement by the Islamic Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Affairs said that today’s raid was carried out through al-Magharebah Gate under heavy protection of Israeli police.

“The settlers provocatively toured the Mosque’s yards and performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern part of the compound amid a state of anger inside Al-Aqsa,” it added

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, July 14 (Petra) — The Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply, has organized a Training of Trainers (ToT) course titled “Quality and food value chain management to enhance product value in local and international markets”.

The course, held in cooperation with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), focused on building the capacities of farmers and traders, by introducing them to new skills in the domains of procedures, techniques and quality standards for agricultural food products.

During the course, a group of trainers was given certificates to undertake the training of farmers and traders, share their knowledge, and exchange experiences.

The course comes as a continuation of the “Supporting the competitiveness and sustainable innovation of Jordanian agri-SMEs” project, which was launched by the ministry last December to enhance Jordanian-Italian partnerships in various fields.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, July 14 (Petra) — Domestic revenues increased by approximately JD172.3 million to JD2.738 billion in the first four months of 2022, compared to JD2.565 billion in the same period of 2021, driven by an increase in tax revenues of JD202.2 million and a decrease in non-tax revenues of approximately JD29.9 million.

The economy’s rebound from the coronavirus pandemic was the primary driver of the increase in tax revenue. Enhanced tax compliance led to an increase in income tax revenues of JD176.9 million, according to figures released Thursday by the Ministry of Finance.

Total government spending, on the other hand, increased by JD137.2 million during the reporting period to JD3.101 billion, up from JD2.964 billion during the same period last year. The government’s social protection spending increased by JD40.8 million.

Excluding the government’s debt to the Social Security Investment Fund, the balance of government debt decreased to 88.6 percent of the estimated GDP by the end of April 2022, compared to 89.5 percent in 2021

Source: Jordan News Agency