Ministry of Social Development decreases employee capacity by 50 per cent.

AMMAN — In light of the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Social Development has decreased its employee capacity in its offices and the field by 50 per cent.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Social Development Barq Dmour said that Minister Basma Ishaqat decided that the working hours of the ministry’s employees in its administrative units and the field to be reduced to 50 per cent, with the exception of those in accommodation centres.

According to the remote work system, employees in leadership and supervisory positions are distributed into two groups that rotate shifts on a weekly basis, with one working remotely and one working in the office one at a time.

Dmour said in a statement that the ministry is striving, like other ministries and institutions, to “overcome the effects of the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has had social repercussions and negative effects on the individual, families and society as a whole.”

However, Dmour said that while the ministry is trying to take precautionary measures, it is also “increasing its level of readiness to deliver basic services to its most vulnerable beneficiary groups.”

 Among the procedures, according to the ministry’s Secretary General, is examining the temperature of the beneficiaries before they enter the ministry’s shelters as well as conducting documented daily checks for the beneficiaries’ temperatures and other virus symptoms.

Dmour stressed that the ministry will not turn away new beneficiaries in their centres but will place them in quarantine rooms and stop visitation before integrating them with the rest of the shelter.

“We have warned our employees against violating our internal protocol against careless acts such as not wearing masks or not adhering to social distancing measures between themselves and between the ministry’s visitors.”