Covid 19 in Morocco
First confirmed cases
The coronavirus pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Morocco on March 2nd 2020, when the first case COVID-19 case was confirmed in city of Casablanca. It involved a Moroccan immigrant residing in Italy who arrived on February 27th 2020. A 2nd case was confirmed later that same day involving an 90-year-old woman Moroccan residing in Bologna Italy who had returned to Morocco on February 25th 2020.
As of 10 May 2020, there have been 6,063 confirmed cases, of which 2,554 have recovered and 188 have died.
After the two cases confirmed on March 2nd 2020, a 3rd case was confirmed on March 10th 2020, a French tourist who arrived in Marrakech. On the same day, one of the two first cases, a woman aged 90, died On March 11th 2020, it was pronounced that the daughter and the wife of the French tourist also tested positive, bringing the total cases to 5 cases. That same day, a 6th case was declared in a woman in her sixties that came from France and that presented respiratory troubles on March 7th . On March 13th 2020, two cases were confirmed: a 40-year-old Moroccan man who had returned from Spain and a 65-year-old French woman. The recovery of patient 0 was reported by the Ministry of Health the same day
Transportation
On March 13th 2020 the Moroccan government declared they have come to an agreement to suspend all passenger ferry and flight crossings to and from Algeria, Spain and France until future notice.
On March 14th 2020, the suspension of flights was expanded to and from an additional 25 countries. By that date, flights had been suspended to/from, Spain, China, Italy, France and Algeria. Subsequently, air travel was to cease shortly between Morocco and , Bahrain, Belgium,Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Germany, Greece,Netherlands, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Norway, Sweden, Oman, Portugal, Senegal, Turkey, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the UAE.[67]
On March 15th 2020, this suspension was extended to cover all international flights.
Education
On March 13th, the government decided to shut down all schools, effective March 16th until further notice. Classes were to be continued either through TV or online, with the use of the educational channels for levels of a certain importance, such as the Baccalaureate level.
On April 11th , the Ministry of Education declared that exams and tests will take place normally, but later in the year, and admittance to next levels will be based on the same criteria as earlier, to ensure equity in notes and grades, instead of admitting students based on their grades of the first semester.
State of medical emergency
The government declared a state of medical emergency on March 19th 2020, to take effect on March 20th 2020 and to remain in effect until April 20th , 2020 with possibility to extend for a longer period. This instruction requires the authorization of local state officials for citizens to leave their homes, while making exceptions for pharmacies, workers at supermarkets, banks, gas stations, telecommunications companies, medical clinics, and essential freelance jobs. A direct 24/7 hour hotline was set up to “support direct communication and urge caution to fight the impact of the covid 19 pandemic and safeguard the health of citizens.” In April, the government pardoned 5,655 prisoners, and it put forward procedures to protect inmates from the coronavirus outbreak.
On April 18th , the government declared the extension of the state of emergency until 20 May 20th.
Emergency Fund
On March 15th , the King Mohammed VI pronounced the creation of an emergency fund (labelled as Special Fondsfor coronavirus pandemy management (Covid-19)) in order to upgrade health infrastructure and support the affected economic sectors. The fund has a volume of 30 billion dirham ($3 billion).[76]
Ramadan
The government announced that being outside shelter between the hours of 7 pm and 5 am during the Holy Month of Ramadan (which started on April 25th ) is strictly outlawed for any reason except for special cases, such as logistics.
Others
- On March 26th, the head of government, pronounced a country wide hiring stop until the end of the covid 19 crisis. Promotions are also to be postponed until the situation has come under control.
- On April 6th the government obliged its citizens to wear face masks.
- The Moroccan government declared that for the public sector, incomes will be cut by one day for every month for 3 months (March, April and May).
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