Rabat – Moroccan doctor and researcher in health policies and systems Tayeb Hamdi said Morocco’s travel restrictions on travelers coming from China are part of its precautionary action against any potential health repercussions.
”The measures taken around the world including in Morocco towards travelers coming from China, do not reflect concern or negative expectations regarding the development of the COVID-19 epidemic,” Hamdi said.
Hamdi emphasized that countries, including Morocco, have decided to take measures regarding flights to and from China to reduce the risk of a possible ferocious variant amid lack of data on the epidemiological situation in the Asian country.
On Friday last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged health authorities in China to provide specific and real-time information on the COVID-19 situation in the country.
The demand came as the country started witnessing another surge in COVID-19 cases after the relaxation of their strict zero-COVID rules.
In response to the situation, many countries imposed travel restrictions, ranging from mandatory PCR tests to total bans, to avoid any potential crisis or spread of the disease.
On December 31, Morocco announced a ban on travelers coming from China following the “alarming” spike in COVID-19 cases.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “all travelers arriving from China, regardless of their nationalities, will be banned from entering Morocco starting January 3.”
The epidemiological situation in Morocco remains stable thanks to the significant decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases. The Ministry of Health recently announced the end of a fifth wave of the spread.
In the past 24 hours, Morocco reported six COVID-19 cases, zero deaths, and 49 recoveries.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, Morocco has reported 1,271,616 cases, 16,295 deaths, and 1,254,967 recoveries.
The country is currently home to 364 active COVID-19 cases.
