Morocco Considers Border Closure as COVID-19 Cases Surge After Holiday Gatherings

Will Morocco isolate itself from the world again to protect its population? The subject is on everyone’s lips. Moroccans fear that the government will decide to take drastic measures to curb the spread of this third wave of contamination. "We no longer know how to organize our holidays when the school year is fast approaching. The situation has become alarming in the country. The number of cases of contamination is constantly increasing and the experts support the hypothesis of a reconfinement. So we are in observation mode, waiting to see how things will develop," confides to Hespress a Casablancaise, mother of two children and obviously disturbed by the uncertainty.

If in the ranks of those living in Morocco, anxiety is at its peak, among Moroccans living abroad who have come on vacation and who have to leave, the fear of a closure of the borders, of a reconfinement almost turns into an obsession. They are afraid of being stuck in Morocco if the authorities decide to close the borders and suspend flights to and from the kingdom, especially since several European countries are facing a new and rather virulent wave of contamination, reports Hespress.

"We are afraid of being stuck here with our children. We see that the figures are skyrocketing in Morocco, but also in Europe. We don’t know if we should bring forward the date of our tickets or keep them, especially since there is talk of reconfinement. We are waiting to see what happens next," says a 47-year-old mother from France who came to spend her summer vacation with her family.

Professor Lahcen Belyamani, Head of the Emergency Department at the Military Hospital in Rabat and President of the Moroccan Society of Emergency Medicine (SMMU), is concerned about the deterioration of the epidemiological situation in the kingdom. He argues that this new wave is faster with a steeper slope. Strict compliance with preventive measures is more than a necessity. "Rigorous observance of the barrier gestures that we have been talking about since the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic is a vital necessity, in order to limit viral spread, especially in family environments where total relaxation is regularly observed," the specialist warns.

And to continue that "more than 80% of contaminations are contracted in the family environment rather than in the professional environment." He proposes mass awareness through advertising spots, systematic SMS and posters to make citizens understand the importance of respecting barrier gestures.