Moroccan City Dakhla Locks Down After 49 Cases of UK COVID Variant Detected

The total re-confinement of Dakhla will come into effect on Thursday, April 1 at 8:00 p.m. This has nothing to do with an April Fool’s joke. This is indeed a decision taken by the authorities following the detection of 49 positive cases of the British variant of Covid-19 in the city. They have thus decided to tighten the restrictive health measures in order to curb the spread of the virus.

These measures include the closure of all businesses, except those where essential purchases are made, the prohibition of gatherings around sit-ins or family and religious ceremonies such as baptisms, weddings or funerals, and this for a period of 15 days.

The auxiliary forces reserve the right to strictly enforce this new prevention system, says a statement from the local authorities. The latter will announce other measures for the month of Ramadan according to the epidemiological situation of the city.

On Monday, a cluster of contamination with the British variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was discovered in Dakhla. In total, 49 cases were detected following analyzes sent to the military hospital in the city and the National Institute of Hygiene in Rabat. "The infected people, mostly students, have been taken care of at home by the medical services, together with their families. Others have been taken care of in the boarding school of their school," local sources said.