Jordan investigates death at coronavirus hospital after power cut


Khaled Yacoub Oweis
  • English
  • Arabic

The Jordanian government is investigating the death of a patient at a private hospital in Amman after a power cut on Sunday.

The incident occurred at the Gardens Hospital in west Amman, amid a surge of coronavirus infections in the kingdom of 10 million people. The hospital specialises in treating Covid-19 patients.

“The government asked the public prosecution to open an investigation in the power cut-off incident as there is a death,” government spokesman Sakhr Dudin said, according to the official news agency.

In March, anti-government protests broke out over the deaths of seven coronavirus patients at a state-owned hospital in the central city of Al Salt that ran out of oxygen. The government cracked down on the demonstrations and arrested hundreds of people.

The government rented Gardens Hospital from its private owners in November last year, during a surge in coronavirus infections.

Gardens Hospital director Fayez Abu Humeidan told official media that there was an electrical short-circuit at the hospital but only the lights were affected in the intensive care unit where the female patient died.

“It did not stop any medical machine from working," he said.

“One patient who was in bad condition died but her death did not have anything to do with the electricity cut-off. The machine she was on was operating."

Mr Humeidan said the patient’s husband was informed before the incident that her chances of survival were slim. He said an average of four coronavirus patients die at the 300-bed hospital every day.

The electrical short was repaired “in five minutes”, he said.

“The media storm sadly is exaggerated but what happened in Salt caused all this sensitivity,” he said.

Dozens of people briefly gathered at the entrance of the hospital on Sunday, worried about relatives inside.

The latest official data recorded 485 people new infections on Saturday, and 15 deaths.

This brings the official death toll to 9,948 and cases numbers to 764,000. Doctors say many more people in Jordan were infected and their cases not recorded.

Vaccination rates remain low, officials say, despite a government campaign that includes restrictions on state employees who are not inoculated.

Only 190,000 people have received two vaccine doses, the Health Ministry says.

Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh said last week that "many" coronavirus infections are happening daily. He urged people to abide by social distancing and other virus rules.

"The belief that the coronavirus is over is wrong," Mr Al Khasawneh said, pointing to new strains of the virus. "Every precaution must be taken to prevent a setback on the domestic level."

Adherence to social distancing and mask wearing dropped sharply after the government lifted most virus restrictions in June, saying it wants to revive the economy.

Unemployment is at an official record of 24 per cent and the economy has been in recession since last year, after a decade of stagnation and rising poverty.

The Health Ministry said at the weekend that anyone who is 12 and older can receive coronavirus vaccines, opening vaccinations to children and people under 18 for the first time.

Those between 12 and 18 can be vaccinated with adult consent starting from Sunday, July 25, the ministry said.





UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other key dates
  • Finals draw: December 2
  • Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
  • Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
Normcore explained

Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.

The Details

Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5 

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

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Multitasking pays off for money goals

Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.

That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.

"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.

Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."

People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.

"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."

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Fund-raising tips for start-ups

Develop an innovative business concept

Have the ability to differentiate yourself from competitors

Put in place a business continuity plan after Covid-19

Prepare for the worst-case scenario (further lockdowns, long wait for a vaccine, etc.) 

Have enough cash to stay afloat for the next 12 to 18 months

Be creative and innovative to reduce expenses

Be prepared to use Covid-19 as an opportunity for your business

* Tips from Jassim Al Marzooqi and Walid Hanna

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Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg

Tottenham Hotspur v Borussia Dortmund, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports

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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo 4-cyl

Transmission: eight-speed auto

Power: 190bhp

Torque: 300Nm

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Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

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Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives. 

The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast. 

As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau

He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker. 

If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah

 

The Uefa Awards winners

Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)

Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)

Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)

Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona

Family reunited

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.

She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.

She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.

The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.

She was held in her native country a year later.

The bio

Favourite vegetable: Broccoli

Favourite food: Seafood

Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange

Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania

Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.

Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes

How will Gen Alpha invest?

Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.

“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.

Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.

He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.

Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”

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'The Lost Daughter'

Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal

Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson

Rating: 4/5

MATCH INFO

What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

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4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

Updated: July 25, 2021, 2:03 PM