With the Omicron variant, Morocco closes its borders and extends the state of health emergency

Morocco ended Thursday, December 23, the device to repatriate its nationals stranded abroad and extended the state of health emergency until January 31, 2022 in the face of the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant. On December 13, the Moroccan authorities allowed “exceptionally” Moroccans detained abroad to return to their country via Portugal, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. However, they decided to stop these return operations due to the resurgence of the epidemic in Morocco, de facto closing the borders of the kingdom. Only special repatriation flights from Morocco are now authorized, particularly to France, subject to case-by-case approval by the Moroccan authorities.

In addition, the government council has decided to extend by decree the period of validity of the state of health emergency, in place since 2020, throughout the territory until January 31, 2022. The Moroccan government has already banned all New Year’s celebrations and reinstated a nighttime curfew, as the kingdom recorded its first cases of contamination from the Omicron variant. Festivals and major cultural and artistic events have also been banned since the beginning of the month. These restrictions are hitting the tourism, hotel and catering industry hard, a vital sector for the kingdom’s economy.

Since December 15, 2021, date of the appearance of the first case of Omicron in Morocco, 27 other new cases have been recorded, reveals the Ministry of Health. The kingdom has recorded 14,823 deaths since the start of the pandemic. To avoid a “lightning” spread, universities are called upon. Examinations organized by higher education institutions will have to be held at a distance, said the Ministry of Higher Education, in a note addressed to the presidents of the universities.