With the Omicron variant, Morocco closes its borders and extends the state of health emergency

On Thursday, December 23, Morocco completed the extended process of repatriating its nationals stranded abroad health emergency Until January 31, 2022 in the face of the rapid rollout of the new Omicron variant. On December 13, Moroccan authorities allowed “Exceptionally” Moroccans were detained abroad to return home via Portugal, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. But they decided to stop these returns due to the renewed spread of the epidemic in Morocco, and the de facto closure of the kingdom’s borders. Only private return flights from Morocco, and in particular to France, are now permitted, subject to case-by-case approval by the Moroccan authorities.

In addition, the Council of Government decided by a decree to extend the period of validity of the state of health emergency, in force since 2020, throughout the territory until January 31, 2022. The Moroccan government has already banned all New Year celebrations and reinstated the night curfew, as the Kingdom registered the first Contamination cases of the Omicron variant. Festivals and major cultural and artistic events have also been banned since the beginning of the month. These restrictions severely affected the tourism, hotel and restaurant sector, which is a vital sector for the Kingdom’s economy.

Since December 15, 2021, the date of the appearance of the first case of Omicron in Morocco, 27 more new cases It was registered, reveals the Ministry of Health. The kingdom has recorded 14,823 deaths since then The beginning of the epidemic. To avoid the spread of “lightning”, universities are called. Exams organized Institutions of higher education The Ministry of Higher Education, in a note to university presidents, said they would have to keep their distance.