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

The Moroccan government Council, held in Rabat this Thursday April 8, has decided to extend the state of health emergency, that was scheduled to expire on April 10, until May 10, 2021.

 

The Council adopted the draft decree extending the state of health emergency throughout the national territory from Saturday, April 10 at 6 p.m. to Monday May 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 and its new variants, 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 thirteenth 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 promptly take 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 if necessary.

 

The Moroccan government also announced on Wednesday a night-time curfew nationwide from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., during the month of Ramadan to start in about a week, while maintaining the various preventive measures previously announced, including ban on public gatherings.