Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Morocco Extends State of Health Emergency One More Month

Police officers patrol streets, following the coronavirus outbreak, on the outskirts of Casablanca, Morocco March 25, 2020. Reuters file photo

The Moroccan government has extended until April 10 the state of health emergency that was set to expire on March 10.

During the cabinet session held in Rabat on Thursday, Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani hailed the successful vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, stressing adherence to preventative precautions.

Morocco has so far inoculated 3.7 million people.

The country has recorded 885,000 COVID-19 cases to date, including 8,653 deaths.

The Kingdom has extended the night curfew and other restrictive measures for two more weeks as of March 2 at 9 p.m.

Besides the night curfew, the measures include the closure of restaurants and shopping centers at 8 p.m. and maintaining the ban on public gatherings.

Morocco has received 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and one million of the Sinopharm jab. It ordered 65 million doses of the vaccines, under plans to inoculate 80% of its 35 million population for free.

The Moroccan economy witnessed a recession of 6.3 percent and lost over 430,000 jobs, due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This brings the total of unemployed people to around 1.5 million, according to official figures.

For this, Morocco is pinning high hopes on the vaccination campaign in order to return to normal life.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.