The director of Prince Hamzah Hospital, Abdulrazaq Khashman, announced the death of an 83-year-old woman.
“The octogenarian woman, suffered from blood poisoning when she was transferred from a private hospital to the Prince Hamzah Hospital,” the agency quoted Khashman as saying.
Jordan has reported 212 coronavirus cases.
On Wednesday, Jordan said it will ease its curfew restrictions by allowing small shops to open so people can buy basic commodities directly. The kingdom had imposed an indefinite curfew from last Saturday to stop the spread of the coronavirus, closing all shops and institutions and leaving people with no way to buy food.
NEW CASES IN LIBYA
AS FIGHTING FLARES
Two new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Libya, authorities said yesterday, after the first was detected earlier this week, with international aid agencies warning of a disaster if it spreads, Reuters reported.
The two cases were discovered in Tripoli and Misrata, the National Centre for Disease Control said, without giving any further details. The first, confirmed on Monday, was a man who had recently returned to Libya from overseas. Libya has been in turmoil since the toppling of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and is split between two warring administrations.
The conflict has wrecked the economy, fuelled migrant smuggling and militancy, and disrupted oil supplies. This week, fighting flared again as battles erupted on several fronts after months of suspected imports of weapons and foreign fighters in breach of an arms embargo.
The World Health Organisation and other agencies have warned that the fighting will make it far harder to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Libya, and the United Nations has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
In Friday’s battles, focused in the southern suburbs of Tripoli and in the area between the coastal cities of Misrata and Sirte, dozens of fighters were reported killed on both sides.
EU ASSISTANCE
FOR TUNISIA
The European Union has granted Tunisia 250mn euros in aid to help it cope with the economic and social effects of the coronavirus outbreak, EU ambassador Patrice Bergamini said yesterday in a tweet, Reuters reported.
Tunisia, which suffers from limited health infrastructure, is fighting to contain the outbreak after it said it had 227 confirmed cases and six deaths.
Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said last week that the government was allocating $850mn to combat the economic and social effects of the health crisis. The International Monetary Fund will disburse $400mn to help the country face the effects of the crisis, finance minister Nizar Yaich has said. Tunisia now expects an economic recession, prompting the central bank this month to cut its key interest rate by 100 basis points from 7.75%. Fakhfakh has said the government cut its growth forecast this year to 1% from 2.7% in part due of coronavirus crisis.
