COVID-19: Morocco imposes New Years’ Eve curfew
Festivities banned as part of efforts to curtail coronavirus spread
Cairo: Morocco has said it will impose a nighttime curfew on the New Year’s Eve to curtail the spread of the new coronavirus.
As part of the measure, restaurants and coffee shops will be shut at 11.30pm on December 31 and a curfew will be in effect from midnight until 6am, Morocco’s news agency MAP reported.
The government said all New Year’s Eve celebrations will be banned too.
The steps aim at bolstering preventive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 and build on “important positive results” which the kingdom has achieved in tackling the epidemic, the government said in a statement.
“Danger of the epidemic outbreak still exists and continues,” the government added. “Present circumstances prompt the need for all citizens to strictly comply with all directives from public authorities,” it added.
Last week, Morocco confirmed its first case of the new Omicron variant in a woman in Casablanca.
Morocco so far has registered a total of 952,916 COVID-19 cases and 14,810 related deaths.