Moroccan authorities have announced the temporary suspension of flights with Italy and Belgium, starting from tonight, Monday, as part of precautionary measures against the spread of mutated strains of the "Coronavirus."
The Moroccan newspaper "Hespress" reported today that the General Director of Air Arabia in Morocco, Leila Mchbal, confirmed that following the Moroccan authorities' decision, flights to and from Italy and Belgium will be suspended starting tonight. Last Monday, Morocco suspended round-trip flights with Austria, Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Turkey. These countries are added to South Africa, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, and Ireland, with which Morocco had previously decided to suspend flights in both directions due to restrictions imposed because of the "Coronavirus" pandemic.
This decision comes in light of the global development of the "Coronavirus" pandemic, with the emergence of new strains of the virus, and as part of ongoing efforts to reduce its spread. In this regard, Morocco continues to vaccinate its population to combat the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus causing "COVID-19." The Arab country aims to vaccinate 80% of its 30 million residents, according to the Moroccan News Agency. On Friday alone, 53,000 people were vaccinated in the Beni Mellal region. Health officials noted that there is a strong trust in the health system among citizens, which encourages them to get vaccinated significantly.
The government has stated that it aims to vaccinate one million people every two weeks to create herd immunity against the virus. At the same time, the Moroccan Ministry of Interior awaits the completion of vaccinations to announce the date for the parliamentary elections. According to the Hespress website, the vaccination process for 80% of the population may take five months. As of Friday, 3,327,858 individuals had received the first dose of the national vaccination campaign, while 96,437 had received the second dose.
