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Morocco is set to suspend all flights to and from Switzerland starting tonight, February 22, after 12 a.m, to prevent the spread of new COVID-19 variants.
The Swiss Ambassador to Rabat, Guillaume Scheurer, announced the decision today, saying the suspension will be reviewed every 15 days.
The Moroccan government is yet to make an official announcement about the suspension.
Earlier today, the Turkish Embassy in Rabat made a similar announcement, saying all flights between Morocco and Turkey have been suspended for 15 days.
The Turkish diplomatic mission mentioned that there are “some other countries” concerned by Morocco’s travel ban. Switzerland appears to be among these countries. But, pending an official announcement from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is unclear if more countries are concerned.
Read also: COVID-19: Morocco Temporarily Suspends Flights With Turkey
Since the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, Morocco has suspended flights with several countries, including the UK, South Africa, Denmark, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, and New Zealand.
Despite the proactive measure bans, Moroccan health authorities have detected at least 24 cases of the new coronavirus strains across the country.
Morocco’s Ministry of Health launched last week a large testing campaign designed specifically to detect COVID-19 variants in the country.
Read also: New COVID-19 Strains: Morocco Detects 24 Cases in Total
While no studies have found the new coronavirus strains to be more deadly, some of the variants are especially dangerous because of their high transmission rates.
Information about the efficiency of COVID-19 vaccines on new variants of the disease is also insufficiently-available at the moment. Health authorities are worried the new strains would hamper the national vaccination campaign against COVID-19.
As of February 22, Morocco’s vaccination campaign has covered more than 2.55 Moroccan citizens and residents, including over 23,000 who received their second vaccine injection.
The national campaign aims to cover at least 80% of the Moroccan population in less than five months.
