Violent demonstrations against covid-19 lockdown rage

Protesters clashed with police in Jordan’s capital amid the second night of demonstrations against health restrictions Monday, even as the country posted a record-high number of coronavirus cases.

The mainly young demonstrators in Amman, numbering around 400, shouted “down with the state of emergency!” and “down with the government!”, an AFP journalist said.

They set fire to tyres and threw stones at policemen, who responded with tear gas.

There were also protests in Madaba and Irbid, according to videos posted online by protesters.

Jordan on Monday recorded 9,417 new cases of coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases to 486,470, including 5,428 deaths in the country of 10 million inhabitants.

The latest uptick in cases came amid simmering anger in the kingdom after seven Covid-19 patients died Saturday when a hospital in the town of Salt northwest of Amman ran out of oxygen.

The resulting outcry forced the health minister to resign, and on Sunday hundreds of mostly young people demonstrated in Amman and other cities to voice their outrage

AFP