Amman, Mar 11 (IANS): Jordan on Wednesday night announced new measures to curb the recent surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, according to a senior official.

In a press conference here, Minister of State for Media Affairs Sakher Dudin said that a lockdown will not be imposed now, but public movement will be restricted between 7:00 p.m. local time and 6:00 a.m., starting from March 13 until further notice, the Xinhua news agency reported.

All the shops will be closed at 6:00 p.m., he said, adding delivery services during the curfew hours will still be available.

The minister said that bars, nightclubs, gyms, sports centres, equestrian clubs, and indoor swimming pools will also be shut down. The capacity of transportation will be reduced to 50 percent instead of previous 75 per cent.

He added that curbing the surge of coronavirus cases will require weeks of intensified efforts, stressing these government measures "are not arbitrary but based on epidemiological and statistical studies."