Rabat – The Local leadership of the COVID-19 committee in Kenitra has decided to re-impose a partial lockdown on both Kenitra and its suburb commune of Mehdia, starting tomorrow, September 13.
The lockdown of Kenitra and Mehdia is set to last for a week. The lockdown measures include the suspension of all commercial activities after 6 p.m, with the exception of pharmacies. Safe for medical emergencies, all other movements in the city will be suspended from the same hour.
The city of Kenitra has maintained a high number of COVID-19 infections during most of the COVID-pandemic outbreak stages in Morocco. This led Morocco’s Minister of Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit,to announce on June 30 the establishment of a field hospital in Sidi Yahya El Gharb near Kenitra. The facility was set to admit around 700 COVID-19 patients.
The minister’s move followed a surge of COVID-19 cases in strawberry harvesting sites in the Kenitra province.
After Morocco entered the third phase of gradual lockdown lifting on July 19, the province of Kenitra was among the Moroccan cities that remained under quarantine.
On June 24 at midnight, all Moroccan regions became part of the government-designated Zone 1—the zone with eased lockdowns But the provinces of Tangier-Asilah, Marrakech, Larache, and Kenitra, where the COVID-19 figures remained, lifted their restrictive measures much later.
On July 25, Morocco’s Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb warned about the possibility of reimposing a total lockdown in the country to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“The virus is still present and awaits the slightest opportunity to spread further,” the minister said.
The Moroccan Ministry of Health revealed yesterday that the city of Kenitra confirmed 246 additional COVID-19 cases, making it the most affected city in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra region.
