First two cases of omicron variant identified in Jordan
December 10, 2021, 3:50 pm

First two cases of omicron variant identified in Jordan

Jordanian man/Pixabay

The Arab News reported according to the Associated Press, the Jordanian health ministry announced on Thursday evening it had identified its first two cases of the omicron variant of coronavirus.

The health ministry’s statement, announced by state-run Petra news agency, said the first case is a Jordanian national who recently returned from South Africa and is currently quarantining in a hotel in Jordan’s capital, Amman.

According to Petra, the second case is a Jordanian national who has not recently left the country, raising fears that the omicron variant may be spreading within the kingdom’s communities. The second individual is also quarantining in a hotel in Amman.

Jordan-Amman city/Pixabay

In response to the two cases, the kingdom’s National Center for Security and Crisis Management announced Friday that all arrivals will be required to take a PCR test 72 hours before arriving in Jordan and another PCR test upon entering the country. The law will come into effect on Sunday and does not apply to children under the age of five.

In late November, Jordan imposed new restrictions on passengers traveling from southern Africa, where the highly mutated strain of the virus was first detected. The measures effectively bar the entry of non-Jordanian nationals arriving from South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, and Botswana. Jordanian citizens arriving from these seven African countries are required to quarantine for 14 days in a state-run hotel at Amman’s airport.

Jordan, a country of 10.2 million people, has reported 11,879 from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. Under half of its population — around 4.2 million people — have received one dose of either Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, or Sinopharm vaccine, while just over 3.7 million Jordanians have received a second dose.

Source: arabnews

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”