Covid-19: Wearing facemasks compulsory, recalcitrant people face sanctions

Moroccan public authorities have announced that wearing facemasks in public and at work place will be compulsory as of this Tuesday March 7 for all people authorized to go out of their homes and that breakers of the decision will face sanctions.

The measure, taken as part of efforts aimed at stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has so far infected 1,120 people and killed 80 in the country, was announced by the ministries of the interior, economy, and industry in a press release.

In this regard, and as instructed by King Mohammed VI, authorities took the necessary measures to provide citizens with facemasks at an affordable price. The facemasks will be on sale in supermarkets and all local grocery shops. The sale price is set at 80 centimes per unit thanks to the support of the Special Fund for the Management of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The law decreeing as compulsory the wearing of facemasks stipulates that any offender faces a prison sentence ranging from one to three months or/and a fine between 300 and 1,300 DH.

In order to ensure the availability of the masks for all, authorities have mobilized several Moroccan manufacturers to supply the national market with these protective masks.