Denver – A British couple are now stuck in a luxury hotel north of Agadir, after authorities banned flights to the UK this week.
Chloe Cervone and her partner Lucy Ross were on a two-week vacation in Morocco when Rabat decided to ban flights to several European countries due to their deteriorating COVID-19 situation.
The two British nationals are now stuck at the Hotel Riu Palace Tikida Taghazout north of Agadir, awaiting approval from Rabat to head home.
Flights from Morocco to several European countries including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Russia were halted due to increasing COVID-19 infection rates. Travelers from these countries have been at the mercy of the COVID-19 health conditions in the region, as Morocco seeks to protect the health of its citizens through precautionary measures.
According to information from the UK Foreign Office, Rabat is currently making arrangements for direct flights to the UK to facilitate the return of the trapped tourists. It also highlights that travel routes through third countries “are operating as normal.”
After a significant COVID-19 spike in July, the UK is on track to face the worst COVID-19 infection rates in the country since the pandemic began. Information gathered from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering states the current new case rate in the UK sits at over 51,000 British citizens.
This is only marginally less than the highest UK COVID-19 spike of 68,000 new cases per day during the summer.
This is in contrast with the health situation in Morocco, where COVID-19 cases have been on a sharp decline since August. Less than 255 new cases were reported in the entire country on Friday. Due to stringent health policies put in place, Morocco has surpassed several of the world’s most socioeconomically developed countries in its management of the pandemic.
Now, as the race towards the elimination of COVID-19 in Morocco aims to enter its final phases, Rabat appears to be taking no chance of a resurgence in the country, even at the cost of needed tourism revenue.
