Covid-19 in the Middle East: ‘Normal life is back – including the tensions’Michael Safi, as told to Sophie Zeldin-O’Neillon August 2, 2020 at 6:16 pm The Guardian

The Guardian’s international correspondent on the last few months in Jordan, where he is based, and across the region

For most people, the first few days and weeks were pretty scary. We were reading stories about hospitals being overwhelmed, death rates growing exponentially. It’s never been as high here as it has been in Europe, but we did feel it here early on. It felt initially like an adrenaline rush. Jordan had one of the harshest lockdowns – for a period, you couldn’t leave your home for any reason, including to get water, food, medicine. It rose and fell quite quickly though – now it’s deemed one of the safest places in the world and the authorities claim to have eradicated the virus here. So life has pretty much returned to normal for now – people hug and kiss and socialise much like they used to. It’s disconcerting to read about what’s happening in parts of Europe and the US.

Continue reading…The Guardian’s international correspondent on the last few months in Jordan, where he is based, and across the region For most people, the first few days and weeks were pretty scary. We were reading stories about hospitals being overwhelmed, death rates growing exponentially. It’s never been as high here as it has been in Europe, but we did feel it here early on. It felt initially like an adrenaline rush. Jordan had one of the harshest lockdowns – for a period, you couldn’t leave your home for any reason, including to get water, food, medicine. It rose and fell quite quickly though – now it’s deemed one of the safest places in the world and the authorities claim to have eradicated the virus here. So life has pretty much returned to normal for now – people hug and kiss and socialise much like they used to. It’s disconcerting to read about what’s happening in parts of Europe and the US. Continue reading…The Guardian