Rabat – Mouad Mrabet, the coordinator of the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations at Morocco’s Ministry of Health said that the government’s decision to announce a night curfew during Ramadan is to prevent the outbreak of the second wave of COVID-19.
On Wednesday, citizens expressed dissatisfaction with Morocco’s decision to maintain the night curfew throughout Ramadan.
The measure will run from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Morocco will return to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on April 11 at 3 a.m. Every year the country suspends daylight savings a week before Ramadan.
The holy month is expected to begin on April 14, according to astronomical calculations.
Mrabet argued that the decision aims to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and prevent the outbreak of the second wave of the pandemic.
The health official also cited the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in some parts of Morocco in recent weeks.
On April 7, Morocco confirmed 663 new COVID-19 cases, a number higher than recorded in recent weeks.
The recent infections made the country’s COVID-19 total case number reach 499,688. The number of recoveries reached 486, 349 while the death toll stood at 8,867.
He said the increase pushed the government to make the decision during the holy month.
“The government decision is none other than the extension of the precautionary measures adopted on January 13 to fight against the coronavirus,” he argued.
Morocco is already on a nationwide night curfew, which the government extended for two more weeks on March 29.
The measure is part of Morocco’s state of emergency that has run since March 2020.
