Covid-19: Morocco Extends Public Health Emergency until Feb.28

The Moroccan government Council decided this Thursday to extend the state of health emergency, that was expected to expire at the end of this January, until February 28, 2022 to preserve the progress achieved in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and reduce the risks of contamination by the new variants, namely the fast-spreading Omicron.

The decision was announced by the Govt. spokesperson Mustapha Baitas at a press briefing held in Rabat following the Government council meeting.

Morocco has been under a state of health emergency since March 2020.

Within the frame of its precautionary measures against covid-19, Morocco closed its borders on November 29 and incoming passengers’ flights and ferries were thus suspended till year’s end. The travel ban was however extended to January 31, 2022, but at his press briefing, the government spokesman did not announce when the ban would be lifted.

Some Moroccan public health specialists and officials think that Morocco’s borders should be reopened under specific circumstances.

To date, the Moroccan Health Ministry has confirmed 1,114,527 COVID-19 cases. The number includes 1,042,268 recoveries and 15,237 deaths.

As of January 26, approximately 23,061,890 people took the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Around 24,647,179 people took the first dose of the vaccine, while the number of people having received booster shots amounted to 4,269,522.

The health ministry continues to urge citizens to take the vaccine, emphasizing that it is the only way to strengthen immunity against COVID-19 and its variants. This advice was amplified following the outbreak of the Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Morocco. Morocco’s health professionals and experts consider the booster shot as a necessary means to counter COVID variants.