Maternity and Gynaecology services during COVID-19 crisis in
Jordan: Challenges and solutions
Ibrahim Alsharaydeh1 , Hasan
Rawashdeh2 , Noura
Saadeh3 , Basil Obeidat4,
Nail Obeidat5
1 Assistant professor, consultant of Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Jordan
University of Science& Technology
2 Assistant professor, consultant of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Jordan
University of Science& Technology
3 Speciality trainee, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, King Abdullah
University Hospital
4 Professor, consultant of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Jordan University
of Science & Technology
5 Professor, consultant & Dean of faculty of medicine, Jordan
University of Science & Technology
COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world over the last few
months. COVID-19 is an infectious condition and can spread, directly or
indirectly, from one person to another. It involves the respiratory
tract system and is caused by the newly discovered corona-virus, known
previously as “2019 novel coronavirus”, first identified in Wuhan,
China, in December 2019. As of April 30. 2020, nearly 3,200,000 people
across the globe have been infected with this virus with approximately
over 230,000 confirmed deaths globally.[1][6]
Jordan is a Middle-Eastern country with approximately 10 million people,
it is considered an upper-middle-income country, according to the World
Bank. According to the Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE)
at Johns Hopkins University[1] and world health Organization (WHO)
website[2], the first case in Jordan was reported on March the
2nd, 2020. The total number of COVID-19 confirmed
cases in Jordan as of April 30th, was 451 (Figure 1),
with 8 deaths, 5 patients in critical condition, and 362 patients having
recovered from the disease.
The Jordanian government made swift changes to address this crisis.
Starting March 14th, 2020, Jordan suspended study in
schools and universities, stopped gatherings in places of worship,
closed its borders, and stopped all incoming and outgoing flights. This
was later followed by an enforced complete lockdown (curfew). Five
thousand Jordanians— who later flew into Jordan—were placed in
quarantine in hotels in the Dead Sea region and in Amman for 14 days.
The Ministry of Health assigned a few major hospitals in Jordan as
referral centres for patients with COVID-19; one in the north, which is
our hospital -King Abdullah University Hospital (KAUH)- and others in
the middle and southern parts of the country.
Our institution, KAUH, is a tertiary canter with 683 beds, expandable to
800 beds during emergencies[3]. It is the teaching hospital
affiliated with Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST)
School of Medicine, one of the leading medical schools in Jordan and the
region[4]. KAUH is the only referral centre for COVID-19 cases in
the north of Jordan, serving five big cities (a total of 3-4 million
people). As of April the 30th, 2020, we treated about 103 patients
diagnosed with COVID-19.
As the government announced the emergency state and later the lockdown,
KAUH outpatient clinics were closed, and elective procedures and
surgeries were rescheduled. The Obstetrics and Gynaecology department at
King Abdullah University Hospital has made multiple adjustments to
confront COVID-19 challenges. Challenges including; patients limited
mobility as a result of curfew, limited number of medical and nursing
staff and limited access to theatres, imaging services, blood banks and
laboratory services. Therefore, we implemented changes at 4 levels:
Patient care, Staff governance, Residency programmes and Medical student
teaching programme.