Just as Jordan was among the first countries to react early to the novel coronavirus pandemic by imposing a nationwide lockdown March 18 and enforcing a strict curfew, it is now the first country in the region to ease restrictions and gradually open up its economy.

On April 19, the government ended the lockdown in the southern city of Aqaba but kept strict health precautions in place. The port city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, where no active cases have been recorded for over a month, has been isolated from the rest of the kingdom. The minister of state for media and communications, Amjad Al-Adaileh, also announced that day that the government will ease curfews in Karak, Tafileh and Maan governorates as of April 22, implementing procedures similar to those in Aqaba.

Jordan’s early response to the pandemic set it apart from neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Israel, where the numbers of cases are now in the thousands. King Abdullah told the US news program “Face the Nation” on April 19, “We acted quite early on, and that helped us flatten the curve quite, quite well,” according to CBS News. “It seems that we’ve got things under control and within the capabilities of our medical and health establishments,” he added. The king has been heading meetings with top officials through the National Center for Security and Crisis Management on an almost daily basis. 

By April 20, Jordan's total number of confirmed cases had reached 425, with seven fatalities. The kingdom had shut its borders, imposed a lockdown and enforced measures such as social distancing and quarantine for suspected cases. Where there have been coronavirus clusters, such as in the northern governorate of Irbid, the government was quick to isolate the area and impose a full curfew.