‘Near normality’: Jordan to reopen hotels & shorten night curfew from Saturday

The government in Jordan said on Thursday it would reopen hotels and cafes, allow sporting events without spectators and shorten a night curfew as of Saturday. The night curfew will be shortened to begin at midnight rather than 7pm, and day-long curfews in place every Friday are being scrapped.

However, PM Omar al-Razzaz told reporters that while the country had now returned to near normality, it would now toughen enforcement of social distancing to ensure there was no risk of a resurgence of coronavirus infections.

Jordan took early steps in mid-March to restrict the mobility of its 10 million people, sealing the borders and imposing a state of emergency and a night curfew.

Amman in recent weeks relaxed some measures, reopening most businesses and factories to avert mass layoffs and bankruptcies. The economy was already struggling with sluggish growth before the crisis.