Moroccan authorities announced on Thursday that they would declare a "state of health emergency" to limit movement of the population as much as possible, "the only way to keep the coronavirus under control" . "The state of health emergency does not mean stopping economic activity but taking exceptional measures" to limit movement, which will now be subject to obtaining an "official document" , they said in a statement.
Morocco is still relatively unaffected by the virus, but the number of reported cases increased from 8 to 61 in one week, with two deaths. The country has two screening centers, and an emergency telephone number has been set up. Morocco, which has 35 million inhabitants, has a capacity to accommodate potential patients of "1,642 intensive care beds" in the public and private.
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On Wednesday evening, Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb had already called on the population to "limit their trips to the maximum" . Travel restrictions came into effect on Tuesday evening, after a host of preventive measures - suspensions of international flights, closure of schools, universities, cultural and sports facilities, cafes, restaurants, "non-essential" shops and finally mosques.
A few thousand foreign tourists, including many French, are still stranded awaiting a return flight since the suspension of international air links and the closure of passenger shipping last week. Nearly 140 special flights have brought back 20,000 people, about two thirds of whom are French, according to a diplomatic source joined by AFP in Rabat.