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Morocco has extended its COVID preventive measures to the Guerguerat border post as part of the country’s campaign against the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Moroccan news outlet Le360 quoted local authorities as saying that the El Guerguerat border crossing point will be closed to travelers starting today, November 30. The decision comes amid concerns about Omicron, the highly contagious and reportedly vaccine-resistant new COVID variant many experts have dubbed as dangerous.
But the closure will only be in order for travelers and commercial traffic will not be affected by the measure, local authorities added.
The decision to close Guerguerat to travelers follows the reopening of the crossing point between Morocco and Mauritania after months of closure due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Earlier this month, local authorities announced that they would be opening the crossing point to civilian traffic on November 10.
The border had been closed to travel since March 18 in 2020, when Morocco first announced its decision to close borders and introduce a state of emergency to fight against the first wave of COVID infections.
Morocco recorded its first case of COVID on March 2, 2020, and the government almost instantly announced restrictive measures to contain the spread of the virus.
The North African country was also among the first countries to launch a national vaccination campaign.
Moroccan authorities started administering vaccines on January 28, and the country has since been globally hailed for the pace of the campaign and the overall success of its response to the COVID crisis.
To date, Morocco has fully vaccinated 22,649,970; people who have received the first dose reached 24,414,691, while 1,654,400 have been administered the third dose.
Amid global concerns surrounding the spread of the Omicron variant, Morocco’s government has continued to urge citizens and residents to remain vigilant and adhere to all the existing preventive measures to preserve the progress the country has made of late in containing the COVID crisis.
