COVID Travel: US Moves Morocco To ‘Moderate’ Risk Category

Rabat – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has moved Morocco to the list of countries with level 2 or “moderate” risk for COVID-19, meaning that the country has registered 50 to 100 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

The CDC shared its updated list on August 29. Morocco was previously listed under the “level 3: high risk for COVID-19” category as a destination that has reported over 100 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days.

There are currently 20 countries listed at level 2 in the CDC’s COVID travel update, including India, Kenya, and South Africa, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, more than half of all listings monitored by the CDC, 125 out of 235 places, are designated a level 3 rating.

Azerbaijan was the only destination to join the “high risk for COVID-19” category on August 29.

The CDC has advised American citizens and residents as well as non-nationals wishing to visit Morocco or enter the US to get their booster doses, check the COVID-19 situation at their destination, and take preventive measures to protect themselves.

As of August 29, Morocco reached a COVID-19 recovery rate of 98.7%, equivalent to 1.2 million recoveries.

More than 23.3 million Moroccans have received their first and second doses of COVID vaccines, while only 6.7 million have been administered booster doses, according to Morocco’s Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, the fourth vaccination dose remains unpopular in Morocco as only 39,449 individuals have received it.

With Morocco and numerous countries easing their COVID-19 restrictions, the North African country welcomed 3.4 million tourists in the first half of 2022, representing 63% of the number of arrivals in the same period in 2019.

The flow of tourists is expected to grow as the Moroccan government has launched numerous campaigns to attract domestic and foreign tourists from traditional and new markets.

Capitalizing on tourists’ interest in Moroccan offers, low-cost airlines have raced to launch new summer and winter routes and offers to the country’s tourist hubs, such as Agadir and Marrakech.