Morocco closes its borders after the case of the variable Omicron

News agency

Frontiers – The first case of the Omicron variant of coronavirus has been detected in The Kingdom of Morocco, which will be closed soon the border Partially reopened in the face of the “lightning” spread of the new variant, according to Moroccan authorities.

This is the first case of contamination with the new strain Omicron On Wednesday (December 15th), the Moroccan Ministry of Health revealed in a press release issued by the agency that his health is stable and does not cause any concern. a map.

The statement added, without further explanation, that the patient was placed under medical supervision in a hospital in Casablanca, the economic capital of the Kingdom.

The authorities also decided to end the system in place from December 23 to allow Moroccans stranded abroad to return to their country.

The “partial” lift was announced on Monday

This decision was made due to the “meteoritic spread of the Omicron variant at the planetary level and its alarming evolution in the European neighborhood of Morocco”, according to the Ministerial Committee for the Monitoring of Covid.

On Monday, December 13, it was announced that the partial lifting of the Moroccan air border closure, which took effect on November 29, was intended to “exceptionally” allow Moroccans trapped abroad to return to their country via Portugal, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

From December 23, passenger flights to the kingdom will be banned again, the epidemic monitoring committee determines.

However, the government does allow special repatriation flights to foreign countries, especially to Europe.

The statement concluded that “the Moroccan authorities will continue to put the preservation of the physical integrity and health of Moroccans before any other consideration.”

Attention to workers in the field of tourism

However, tourism professionals are concerned about the devastating impact of border closures on this vital sector of the kingdom’s economy, which has already been undermined by an unprecedented crisis in nearly two years.

On Tuesday, the Moroccan Ministry of Health urged the population to respect preventive measures and vaccination to avoid any deterioration in the epidemiological situation.

This call comes in response to “a large number of citizens abandoning the main preventive measures for the virus, as well as following the upward trend in the epidemiological curve during the past two weeks,” according to what the ministry expressed in press statements. Release.

In the Maghreb, Tunisia reported its first case of the Omicron variant on December 3, while Algeria reported its first case on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization warned, on Tuesday, of the spread of the Omicron type at an unprecedented rate, and urged countries to move quickly to reduce the transmission of the virus.