Minister of State for Media Affairs Faisal Shboul said Monday that the government's move to relax coronavirus restrictions, which will go into force tomorrow, is part of measures towards a gradual return to normal life, stimulating the economy and revitalizing the commercial and tourism sectors, particularly as the latest wave of the pandemic began to wane.

During a meeting with stakeholders from the Ministries of Health, Education and Interior at the Prime Ministry, Shboul announced the abolition of the requirement to register on the platform GATEWAY2JORDAN for Jordanians arriving in the Kingdom.

He stressed the importance of awareness campaigns to urge citizens and residents of the Kingdom to get the Covid-19 vaccines in order to proceed with more mitigating measures if no new waves of the pandemic occur during the coming period.

Shboul, who is also official spokesman of the government, said that two years on, the global response to the pandemic has proven that vaccination is the most effective way to face it, adding that Jordan will next month hold elections for governorate and municipal councils, as well as Islamic and Christian religious occasions, including the holy month of Ramadan, the Easter Holiday and a "promising" tourist season during spring and summer.

The minister also noted that the Kingdom's vaccination campaigns succeeded in immunizing a high percentage of Jordanians of the age group 18 years and above, stressing the importance of expanding the vaccination drive to the age group of 5 to 17 years old.

He also told the meeting, which was attended by the Prime Ministry's Adviser for Health Affairs and the official in charge of the Covid-19 file, Adel Belbisi, of the need to intensify awareness campaigns to target expatriate workers, Syrian refugees and other groups under the age of 18, where the vaccination rate is very low.

Shboul stressed the necessity to continue work with the Defence orders and relevant circulars, as it provides a legal cover for the government to support sectors that were hit hard by the pandemic, protect private sector workers and press with vaccinations as well as be ready to deal with any new epidemiological setbacks.

Also among the measures to ease the coronavirus restrictions are: reducing the isolation period for infected people to 5 days, starting with the date of taking the PCR test without the need for another test after the end of the isolation period and cancelling procedures related to contacts quarantine and the PCR test for arrivals in Jordan.