Morocco suspends UK, Netherlands, Germany flights amid surge in COVID cases

As the Covid-19 instances are increasing each day in the United Kingdoms, Morocco has banned several arrivals and departure flights between the two nations. The Moroccan government has informed that several UK airlines flights would be halted starting from 11.59 PM BST on Wednesday until the further announcement. 

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's current data, the weekly frequency of confirmed coronavirus infections in the North African nation was only 10.4 in 100,000 persons on October 14. While, on the contrary, the present infection rate in the UK is 445.5 per 100,000 persons. The UK recorded 43,738 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to over 40,000 for the first time in seven days. Meanwhile, the number of hospitalised patients increased by 10% in a week to 7,749 on Monday. 

Morocco-UK flights

Furthermore, on Wednesday, EasyJet airlines had canceled two flights from Gatwick and Manchester, England to Marrakech, Morocco but had stated that they will resume service in the other direction to transport customers back to the UK before the ban takes effect. In a statement, the airlines said that they are currently waiting for clarification from Moroccan officials on whether they would get authorisation to fly return flights after midnight.

Additionally, the British Airways company has suspended flights between Heathrow and Marrakech, which were expected to restart on Thursday following the long back pandemic's hiatus.  

Travel advisories in Morocco and the UK

For traveling to Morocco amid the COVID-19, the nation has been given a Level 3 Travel Health Notice by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Before going to Morocco, the visitors have to make sure that they are completely immunised. While the other advisories are unvaccinated visitors should avoid visiting Morocco unless it is absolutely necessary and only if travelers adhere to any advice or restrictions -- such as wearing a mask and keeping a distance of 6 feet from people. 

Meanwhile, according to the UK government's travel advice to Morocco, Passengers from the United Kingdom are not prohibited from leaving the nation but should travel through a third country. As per BBC, the advice stated that the UK passengers must show confirmation of complete vaccination for at least two weeks or a negative PCR test performed not over 48 hours before departure. 

Moreover, according to the most recent Worldometer data, the overall number of confirmed cases in the UK is 85,89,737 with 139,031 fatalities. While the overall number of confirmed cases in Morocco is 942,967 with 14,580.  

Morocco suspended the flights from Germany and the Netherlands

Following this, the Moroccan government has even taken the decision to suspend flights with Germany and Netherlands until November 30. Royal Air Maroc, Morocco's official carrier, announced the suspension of flights in a tweet, due to "the pandemic scenario."

Over the last two weeks, the number of COVID cases in the Netherlands has increased dramatically, and the number of cases in Germany has also increased. According to data from the public health institution RIVM of the Netherlands, the total number of new cases in this week ending Tuesday was 25,751, which is the most since the end of July. The cases have been steadily increasing since September 25th, when prohibitions were relaxed. There were 48 fatalities, which was more than double the previous week's total.

While, for the first time since May, Germany has recorded over 17,000 coronavirus infections.  In the last 24 hours, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Germany has verified 17,015 new coronavirus infections, rising from 6,771 on Tuesday. When compared to the previous week, the average number of new cases has grown by 22%. Authorities have verified 92 additional deaths and 711 new hospitalised cases.

Due to the upcoming flight suspension, Germany's foreign office advised citizens in Morocco to notify their travel operator as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Transavia, a Dutch airline, said it was looking into getting permission to fly past the midnight deadline to pick up stranded travelers from Morocco.

(Image: AP)