Essaouira Airport Enhances COVID-19 Screening Amid New Variant Concerns

In a report, 2M went to see how health checks are carried out at the Mogador airport in Essaouira and the measures that have been strengthened to counter the spread of the new strain of Covid-19. In addition to the prevention and precaution devices already in place, additional health tests are carried out on site on randomly selected travelers, to ensure that they are not carriers of the virus, says Mohamed Kouihel, nurse and member of the provincial delegation.

He explains that the objective is to rule out any risk of contamination with this new, much more dangerous variant of Covid-19 than what the world had known since March. Some of the passengers who underwent additional tests on their arrival on Saturday on a flight from Brussels appreciated the initiative. This makes it possible, in a short time, to have the results of the tests carried out and to ensure that they are not infected with the virus and that they do not represent a danger for their loved ones.

Particular attention is paid to compliance with physical distancing during customs formalities and even during baggage claim. According to Dr. Zakaria Ait Lahcen, the provincial health delegate in Essaouira, passengers are also questioned about the countries they have recently visited, in order to know if they have passed through the United Kingdom or South Africa. These new health measures, he explained, are part of the strengthening of "epidemiological surveillance" in order to prevent the introduction of the new variant of Covid-19 in the province and in the Kingdom, specifies the same source.