COVID-19: Morocco bans access to travelers coming from China starting Jan. 3

Morocco will ban travelers coming from China to enter its soil following the “alarming” spike in COVID-19 cases in the Asian country, the foreign ministry announced in a statement.

The decision will enter into force starting January 3, 2023 and will last until further notice.

The statement issued on Saturday said “all travelers arriving from China, regardless of their nationalities, will be banned from entering Morocco starting January 3.” The decision comes on the backdrop of the rising number of COVID-19 infections in the Asian country.

The ministry explained that it had been closely monitoring the development of the COVID situation in China, and that the decision to stop the inflow of travelers intends to “avoid a new COVID-19 outbreak in Morocco and the repercussions such an outbreak would entail.”

“This exceptional measure in no way affects the sincere friendship between the two peoples or the strategic partnership between the two countries, to which the Kingdom remains firmly attached,” the statement added.

With the decision to ban Chinese travelers, Morocco is joining a list of other countries that either decreed a complete ban or imposed stricter travel policies on incoming visitors from China, which is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The list includes the US, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Spain and Australia.