Witnesses and officials said today, Saturday, that the sirens sounded in Jordan, marking the start of a curfew in the Kingdom to limit the movement of the population of 10 million people, as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the Corona virus.
The army confirmed that whoever violates the ban that limits transportation to workers in emergency and essential services will be imprisoned for up to a year.
Bassam Al-Talhouni, Minister of Justice, told the Kingdom News Channel: "The matter came for the higher interest of the country ... Violation of that means punishment, which reaches one year in prison."
The curfew is in effect until further notice, and includes the deployment of thousands of soldiers into cities and on major roads across the country.
Witnesses said armored police cars roamed the streets of major cities and appealed to people to comply with exit warnings.
Jordan closed its maritime and land borders with Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Israel and stopped all flights leaving and arriving since last Tuesday.
The Jordanian monarch, King Abdullah, enacted an emergency decree giving the government broad powers to impose curfews and other measures that restrict civil and political freedoms.
On Friday, Minister of Health Saad Jaber announced that Jordan had registered 85 confirmed cases of coronavirus after discovering 15 new cases, while officials warned that the number might rise.
The curfew came after officials criticized the presence of many in the streets, despite appeals to stay in homes, prevent public gatherings, pray in mosques, and stop work in government institutions and private companies.
Citizens rushed to shop in the last hours before the ban started, which led to overcrowding in front of grocery stores and bakeries.
The government said that the Kingdom, which imports most of its food and energy needs, has a strategic stock of goods that is sufficient for several months, and also has a stock of fuel and petroleum products sufficient for several months.
And the monetary authorities in Jordan have taken several decisions in the past days, including deferring the payment of debt installments, reducing interest rates and pumping liquidity to reduce the economic damage resulting from the crisis.