Morocco Extends State of Emergency Until March 31

Rabat – Morocco’s governing council decided on Thursday to extend the national state of emergency until March 31.

The measure is part of the country’s efforts to combat COVID-19 risks, and allows the government to react to new developments in the global and national COVID-19 crisis.

The council, chaired by Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, adopted a draft decree extending the state of emergency as part of the country’s proactive strategy to tackle COVID-19.

Morocco has been under a state of emergency since March 2020, which marked the first detection of COVID-19 cases in the North African country.

Morocco confirmed the first domestic COVID-19 case on March 2, 2020.

On March 20, 2020, Morocco announced a state of emergency and a total lockdown. The state of emergency simply grants government emergency powers to intervene with public health measures depending on the ever-changing epidemiological situation.

To date, Morocco confirmed 1,159,941 COVID-19 cases, including 1,137,920 recoveries, and 15,938 deaths.

Fully vaccinated people with the first and second doses of the vaccines reached 23,185,107.

Recipients of the booster dose, meanwhile, stand at 5,610,616.

It has been just a few weeks since the North African country announced the reopening of air borders on February 7. The reopening followed almost three months of border closures.

The country closed its borders on November 29, 2021, due to the emergence of the Omicron strain in southern Africa. Following the reopening, international airlines expressed satisfaction when announcing the resumption of flights. The government also expressed hope to see the tourism sector revived following the reopening of international travel that is vital to the local tourism industry.