COVID-19: Extension of state of health emergency in Morocco until March 10, 2021

The Moroccan government Council, held in Rabat this Thursday Feb.04, has decided to extend the state of health emergency, that was scheduled to expire on Feb. 10, until March 10, 2021.

The Council adopted the draft decree extending the state of health emergency throughout the national territory from Wednesday, February 10 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday March 10 at 6 p.m.

The state of health emergency enables the government to make swift, necessary decisions to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The extension was decided as the current situation requires keeping the appropriate measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, while ensuring that the measures taken at the level of each region, prefecture or province, are adequate with the evolution of the epidemiological situation.

This is the eleventh time that Morocco is extending the state of health emergency since the measure was first adopted on March 19, 2020.

The state of emergency, which is not synonymous with lockdown, is a legal framework that allows the Moroccan government to take promptly exceptional measures against COVID-19. The measures include lockdowns on neighborhoods or cities, bans on travel, the closing of gathering places, and the deployment of military troops in cities.

The extension comes although the number of daily COVID-19 cases has been dropping lately and although Morocco has launched a nation-wide immunization campaign.

On February 03, Morocco recorded 774 new cases and 14 new fatalities. This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom to 473,047 and fatalities to 8,323, while 451,780 patients have recovered.