01/10/2020
On May 9, 2020, Jordanian truck driver Yasser Qaraba unloaded his shipment at the Saudi Arabian border before heading back to Jordan through the Al-Omari frontier crossing which connects Jordan to Saudi Arabia and the Arab Peninsula. There, he joined hundreds of drivers in a waiting room that was hastily preparing PCR tests for those returning to Jordan, as it had imposed a travel ban on air and sea travel since March 16, 2020.
Qaraba, along with 300 other drivers (both Jordanian and foreign) camped out on the sidewalk as they waited for their results. As he learned that he tested negative for COVID-19, he was surprised to find out that along with his fellow drivers, they were obliged to quarantine at the Prince Faisal Military School in Al-Azraq (49km from Al-Omari). This facility was chosen as a temporary quarantine centre based on an official decree issued on the eve of Qaraba's travel as a temporary arrangement while a caravans is being readied for the crossing.
The Jordanian government’s confusion in implementing travel restrictions, coupled with their insistence on quarantining drivers (even those testing negative), led to avoidable social mixing and overcrowding at the borders. The drivers’ health and safety were put at risk unnecessarily, as confirmed by the investigative team through first hand observation of events at the border through video calls. The investigators were unable to visit the closed border (154km south of Amman) or the Military School (quarantine facility) due to security and safety concerns.
The investigation documents health and security officials poor application of the testing, housing and quarantining protocols as set for the drivers. These rules came into force on May 10, 2020, after a ministerial visit to the crossing. Footage from the two sites points to failure handling of the situation given the absence of physical distancing and preventive measures during PCR examinations, as well as prolonged waiting times.
Jordanian COVID-19 preventative measures stipulate that drivers must wait in their trucks, however many of them split the trip between two drivers using the same truck. Hence, many drivers were left without housing while waiting for their trucks return. The Land Transport Regulatory Authority has not prevented this practice and has failed to organise the drivers border gathering.
As of April 15, the government subjected incoming drivers to a compulsory PCR test at the cost of 45JOD ($ 64) paid to MegaLab, the ministry of health designated testing entity. As a result, dozens of drivers congregated daily at the crossings without sanitary precautions while awaiting their tests results. After our enquiry, the Ministry of Health informed us that on April 17, 2020, the lab opened a branch at the border at the request of the ministry.
Many of the orders and regulations adopted by the Jordanian government were reactionary and not pre-emptive. Its orders for compulsory testing for those crossing into Jordan, for example were issued 67 days after the first infection was recorded on March 2, 2020. This decision was taken 51 days after air and sea borders were shut after the discovery of a Covid breakout in the village of Johfiya in Irbid on March 13; which was the result of a wedding ceremony held in violation of Health Ministry recommendations.
Additionally, government measures at the crossing were delayed by 25 days, and were only implemented after two infections were confirmed there on April 14. Further, government action was taken two days after an outbreak of cases in the village of Al-Khanasiri in Mafraq (a population of almost 60000), where a driver violated his quarantine period.
The spike in infection was the result of delayed government control of the border crossing, which led Jordan to be classified as a high risk country as per National Centre for Security and Crisis Management, despite recording zero cases for 11 days (from April 25 to May 5, 2020). ,
This led to a prolonged nationwide lockdown, which lasted from March 18 to June 4, costing the Kingdom $140 million a day, according to statements made by the Finance Minister on May 8. Tens of thousands lost their jobs and source of livelihood, while thousands of medium and small enterprises became insolvent and bankrupt.
First case of COVID-19 is recorded in Jordan
Sea crossings with Egypt closed
2 cases recorded after attending a wedding in Irbid
Authorities begin counting infections of wedding attendees.
Lockdown of the public and private sector except vital services institutions
No-one is to leave the house unless absolutely necessary
Travel between governorates banned
Newspaper printing is suspended
Public transport is suspended
Commercial complexes shut down except pharmacies and catering
Quarantine camps erected at land crossings for returning Jordanians, while Jordanians abroad were advised to stay put
Closure of the airport, sea and land crossings, except Al-Omari crossing, the Karama crossings with Iraq and Jaber with Syria
Two recorded infections of truck drivers at Al-Omari crossing
A medical laboratory is opened at Al Omari for drivers PCR tests
A truck driver in the village of Al-Khanasri in the Mafraq governorate is infected.
Authorities begin tracing the driver’s contact in Mafraq, Irbid, Ramtha, Zarqa and Jarash
Order to quarantine truck drivers in military schools in the Azraq area until a caravans site us equipped to host them
Drivers at Al-Omari begin quarantining in individual caravans
Completion of the "handling yard" between trucks at the customs crossing of Al-Omari
Thus, delayed responses, overcrowding in unhygienic conditions, poor drivers management, and lax implementation of preventative measures at the frontiers to negative results, as documented by this investigation.
Following the truck driver’s infection in Al-Khanasiri, the virus spread, with up to 104 cases recorded in several cities across the country, including Irbid, Jarash, Ramtha, Zarqa, and Mafraq, according to Dr. Nazir Obeidat, the spokesperson for the National Epidemiological Committee.
“The decision to quarantine drivers was surprising,” says Korbaa, who left his home with the intention of returning quickly, and without providing his family with what they needed to prepare for his long absence. Meanwhile, drivers were arriving at the Al-Omari border after unloading their truckloads in Saudi Arabia (Jordan's largest trading partner).
The new arrivals could not be sheltered as the military school was overcrowded with 320 drivers divided among 24 rooms. Of the 200 drivers who remained homeless, 40-year old Abu Faisal spent eight days at the Omari Borders (from May 11 to May 18, 2020) sleeping on the sidewalk and taking refuge inside the only mosque at the border crossing, which was also crowded with other drivers.
On May 17, the Al-Omari crossing administration prepared 200 caravans, according to instructions issued by the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management. However, their capacity dropped to 194 caravans after six were converted into offices, storage facilities for testing equipment, and spaces for border agents. On June 12 an additional 47 caravans were prepared based on the Ministry of Health’s response, resulting in a total of 241 units to house quarantining drivers.
Despite this efforts, 241 were not enough to meet the demand of over 300 drivers arriving daily. The crossing receives 4200 drivers every two weeks, each of whom is required to individually quarantine in a caravan for a period of 14 days. Consequently, the units are overbooked for that period, while about 4000 drivers at the border await a free unit. This number doubled after four weeks causing major overcrowding as documented by the investigative team.
As a result, drivers were forced to wait in the desert for around 8 to 14 days for a free caravan as revealed by testimonies of 15 drivers. Prior to that they are required to pay for their new accommodation which cost 10 JOD ($14) per night, plus a 20 JOD ($28) as a transportation fee. When the drivers were asked for their receipt, Ahmed Al Hayek, Mundhir Al Dawood, Qurba’a and Abu Faisal said that drivers are not given one.
Added to that drivers had to pay 45 JOD ($64) for a PCR test, some of them end up spending the quarantine period without access to a caravan, so they pay 45 JOD for a second test prior to heading home.
“A Foot in the truck and a foot in the grave” complains driver Ali Al-Sokhni, who spent 8 days at the border last May before being transferred to a caravan, later he switched to the handover system where other drivers complete the journey to circumvent having to quarantine.
The media’s coverage of the overcrowding at the borders has impacted the returning drivers negatively at home. Ahmed Al-Hayek says timidly that their families are being "socially ostracized" due to people's fear of catching infection. In an audio recording, he explains how his nine-year-old child was kicked out of a grocery store: "you are the son of a driver?
Don’t come to the shop when your father is back
On July 21, 2020, a Jordanian driver tried to commit suicide by ingesting a large number of pills in front of the customs clearance building at the al-Omari crossing. This was in response to security forces pushing away drivers who could not find shelter and sought refuge at the entrances to the facility to escape the heat. According to an official statement, another driver died that same evening after attempting to escape his quarantine by hiding in the back of an outgoing truck. His colleagues informed us that he had not seen his family since May, and was delaying his return to avoid another round of quarantine before completing his job. But when he heard news of his child being born he tried to escape. Unfortunately, he was crushed in his hideout as the truck moved. This caused outrage amongst the drivers. Security forces intervened as hundreds of those stuck at the crossing protested.
A third driver attempted suicide by hanging himself on July 23 in protest of the quarantine measures and the poor treatment of drivers at the crossing, according to Hayek, who tried to talk him out of it.
In response to this, Jordan’s Prime Minister Omar Al-Razzaz, decided on July 23, 2020 to exempt truck drivers at Al-Omari and Jaber crossings from paying cost of their PCR, according to the official page of the prime ministry.
We followed the transfer of the first batch of drivers on May 9, 2020, to the military school. There, we witnessed a number of health and safety violations, including 14 drivers gathered in one room, with an average of only two square meters between them despite social distancing recommendations. Drivers described the whole situation as a "health catastrophe." The rest of the drivers spent seven days outdoors by the border until May 17, when the first group of drivers was quarantined.
According to Alaa Al-Abadi, head of the Goods Transport Directorate at the Land Transport Regulatory Authority, and the testimonies of several drivers (including Ahmed Al-Hayek and Saeed Abu Milad and Farhan Al Jarwan), drivers that operate based on a handover systems are allowed to wait at the crossing despite the absence of shelter. Based on the estimates of the Land Transport Regulatory Authority, the number of drivers in this situation is approximately 220 (Jordanian and foreign).
Drivers have the choice between sleeping outdoors at the crossing or risk infection if they sheltered at the military academy. Munther Al-Daoud, a driver who passed through the crossing on May 23, chose to wait outside instead of taking shelter at the military academy. After getting tested, he remained in his truck for 5 days before transferring the vehicle to another driver that could take the cargo into Jordan. During this time, Al-Daoud was able to avoid paying the caravan fee by seeking refuge in a mosque and wandering around.
"I can’t pay these fees every time I pass through, especially because I can’t work for 4 weeks because I have to quarantine,” said Al-Daoud.
He also stressed that the movement of drivers at the crossing area is not restricted or regulated, nor is there any control over social distancing measures.
For his part, Al-Abadi thinks drivers should be responsible for maintaining the appropriate distance.
Despite the elevated risk of transmission and the virus’s spread to several towns as a result of returning truck drivers, the government waited until April 14 to implement preventative measures (such as PCR testing) or procedures governing the truck drivers’ journeys.
The preventative measures were implemented after two infection cases of Jordanian drivers returning from Saudi Arabia were confirmed (on April 12-13, 2020 according to the Ministry of Health). In light of these cases, the Ministry of Health announced (at a press briefing on April 17) that all returning drivers would be required to undergo mandatory testing in designated hospitals to prevent the spread of the virus. At that time, 1200 Jordanian drivers underwent a free COVID-19 examination in national hospitals, according to data reported by the Land Transport Regulatory Authority.
On April 15, 2020, Health Minister Saad Jaber confirmed three children had contracted the virus after their father, a truck driver, transmitted it upon his return to Irbid. Two days later, a truck driver that had already crossed the border into Jordan before getting tested was found to be a carrier of the virus as well. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as cases started spreading amongst other truck drivers who had been in contact with their families. On April 22 and 24, two new cases were confirmed due to the interactions of truck drivers with other people.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia was doubling daily, starting from May 7, 2020, according to updates on the Saudi Ministry of Health’s website. Meanwhile, Jordan was recording between one and eight cases per day at Al-Omari Centre during the period of this investigation which lasted 25 days, starting from April 14 to May 8, 2020. Only on April 16, 19 and 28 was the crossing free of new cases.
The aforementioned cases were a red flag for the risks associated with truck drivers, according to the statistician, Mutassem Al-Saeedan. Al-Saeedan, criticises the Ministry of Health’s late intervention: "They should have double tested the drivers instead of taking random samples of drivers returning from Saudi Arabia, where the virus was already spreading rapidly.
Before quarantine was imposed in mid-April, driver’s entry was largely dependent on the result of the border check over a period of 23 days. If the result was negative, the driver would be allowed to unload their cargo trucks inside the country, and if it was positive (and the driver was Jordanian), they would be taken to a designated quarantine hospital.
According to Dr. Obeidar, foreign drivers testing positive are asked to return to their starting point at the crossing. According to the Ministry of Health, the hospitals designated to host COVID cases are the “Hamza Governmental Hospital” in Amman, 147 km away from Al-Omari, and the “King Abdullah Hospital” in Irbid, 181 km away from the crossing.
Despite the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that travellers should self-isolate for a period of 14 days, even if test results are negative, the Jordanian Ministry of Health ignored this in their dealing with drivers. According to the testimonies of 15 drivers, they were not required to go through a second round of testing. At the time, the ministry was satisfied with a pledge signed by the drivers in which they would commit to self-isolating for 14 days.
Jordanian driver Saeed Abu Milad expressed his fears of infection when he went through the legal and health procedures at Al-Omari crossing. Abu Milad complains of the absence of physical distancing measures while undergoing the mandatory PCR test, as well as in the waiting rooms to obtain the results. The investigation documents through various interviews also, evidence of close contact between drivers during their transfer to the caravans.
The same concerns were expressed by Al Dawood, especially after it was confirmed that two drivers who were waiting at the border tested positive in the period when his test was conducted. "Only a few steps separated us from these two drivers while we were waiting. Nobody cares for us, no one tried to control the situation to ensure their was physical distancing," says Al-Dawood.
Jordanian driver Ahmed Hayak, blames the testing procedure for spreading the virus, as testing was conducted in a small room near the customs office where many Jordanians and non-Jordanians drivers gathered to give their samples in a small room with a desk and two laboratory technicians (flanked by 2 security guards).
According to drivers’ testimonies, no one change gloves after taking a sample from a patient. This is even more serious since the health officials collect the test fees and identification from one driver to the next without changing their own protective equipment, hence, increasing the risk of transmission.
Testing procedures at the crossing violates WHO guidelines related to testing rooms which are required to be "well-ventilated, sterile, and free of clutter”, and staff are obliged to use the appropriate attire (including gloves, face shields, masks, and glasses) which must be changed after coming into contact with any patient.
Jordanian driver Farhan Al-Jarwan accuses the Ministry of Health of negligence that has placed drivers’ lives at risk. He wonders, "Why does the government not guarantee our protection? Instead, it deals with us as though we were the ones spreading the virus, even though they were clearly disorganised with their quarantine policies."
The Jordanian Ministry of Health indicates that it implemented the procedures recommended by WHO and International Health Regulations, by “conducting thermal tests (measuring the temperature of the patient’s forehead) for all those arriving by land”. The Ministry adds that they “took initiative” by setting up testing labs at the borders even though it was not yet recommended by WHO or the United Nations.
According to the Ministry’s written response, “the discovery of a large number of cases amongst truck drivers led to our decision to implement a mandatory quarantine period at the crossing”.
The Land Transport Regulatory Authority seeks to distance itself from assuming responsibility and transfers its authority to the Ministry of Health and the Crisis Management Committee, which includes representatives from both the Ministries of Transport and Health. The transport authority’s spokesperson, Abla Weshah, confirms that the authority’s regulatory role is restricted to land transport, and that health issues are under the jurisdiction of the National Epidemiology Committee and the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management.
For its part, the Epidemiology Committee confirms that it initially recommended quarantining drivers from the start, but logistical difficulties intervened and caused delay.
The National Crisis Management Centre refused to explain the nature of such logistical difficulties leading to improper quarantining methods and processes when we asked them.
WHO confirms in its two manuals on preparedness and response measures for fighting COVID-19 that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to managing the crisis. Therefore, each country must assess its risks and quickly implement the necessary measures on the appropriate scale to limit the transmission and its economic, public and social impacts.
The organisation calls on all countries to raise their level of preparedness to identify new cases of COVID-19. The contents of the two manuals are consistent with what is stipulated in Article 22 of the 2005 International Health Regulations Law, that “the appropriate authorities must make effective arrangements to deal with emergencies in order to deal with unforeseen public health events.”
As for the recommendations issued on February 11, 2020, regarding the quarantine protocols applicable to travellers, WHO confirms that the state may, under Article 31 of the International Health Regulations Law, subject travellers to quarantine if it anticipates a risk of spreading infection. The emergency protocols must also include support for those quarantined, which places responsibility on the authority managing the crisis.
According to daily communication on COVID-19 issued by the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health in Jordan, cases continued to rise at Al-Omari Crossing. By June 23, 221 infections were recorded, of which 83 were Jordanians and 183 foreigners. (It may be useful here to mention that the number of cases at the crossing (221) represents 21% of the group of cases in Jordan recorded as of June 23 (1047 cases).) It provides additional evidence that the frontier crossing is a hotspot for infection.
Has Al-Omari turned into a breeding ground for the virus? Researcher Saeedan says: “There are many indications that it has become a hotspot for infection, as a result of the lack of social distancing and prevention measures, in light of the high number of drivers who cross it daily, both Jordanian and non-Jordanian.”