Morocco govt orders border control measures to curb COVID spread

In a bid to curtail the spread of COVID-19 cases in the country, the government of Morocco has ordered mandatory COVID appropriate measures, which include negative PCR tests for foreign travellers arriving in Morocco, double-check by thermal cameras, antigen tests, social distancing among others, reported news agency Xinhua, citing an official statement. Any international travellers who tested positive on arrival in Morocco will be asked to return to their origin country, and the expense of that person would be incurred by the airline or shipping company.

The government of Morocco took border control measures in view of the increasing COVID-19 cases across the country and the world, especially in the European regions that share borders with Morocco. According to data issued by the Health Ministry of the nation, Morocco's COVID caseload has been on the incline but is marginally lower than a few months ago. The nation's reported number of confirmed cases has risen to a total of 9,48,157.

Earlier, the government in the country imposed a "Health State of Emergency," a nationwide curfew between 11:00 PM and 5:00 AM. While a national mask mandate remains in place across the country. The authorities have asked restaurants, cafes, gyms, and other public venues to operate at only 50% capacity under COVID measures. However, last Wednesday the country ended the night curfew, which was in place since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. 

COVID Situation in Morocco

Morocco is experiencing a rather sharp spike in COVID infection cases. A total of 132 new COVID infection cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours, followed by three deaths, taking the death toll to 14,740. The number of recovered patients stood at 929,909 after 134 new ones were added. Morocco launched a nationwide vaccination campaign in January of this year, and the country has so far administered 24,359,996 first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, with 22,388,630 people fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, a total of 1,570,471 people have received the booster jabs. With a total of 36 million people, Morocco has administered the highest number of COVID vaccines compared to any other African country. 

Image: Unsplash/ Representative Image