Morocco’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that Morocco will impose a ban on entry from China, regardless of nationality, from January 3 to prevent a new wave of coronavirus infections.
Several countries have imposed restrictions on travelers from China due to rising cases of COVID-19.
Thousands of tourists visit Morocco every year from China, often on flights across the Gulf.
In a surprising policy shift, China this month began lifting the world’s strictest lockdown and testing regime, putting its struggling economy on track to fully reopen next year.
However, according to some international health experts, the lifting of restrictions has allowed COVID to spread unchecked, potentially infecting millions of people every day.
A high-level meeting on the current rise in COVID-19 cases was held between WHO and China on 30 December to gather more information on the situation and provide additional knowledge and support from WHO.
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Senior officials from the National Health Commission and the National Administration for Disease Control and Prevention briefed WHO on China’s evolving strategy and policies in the areas of epidemiology, variant surveillance, vaccination, clinical care, communication, and research and development.
The WHO has again called for the regular exchange of specific real-time data on the epidemiological situation – including more genetic sequence data, data on the impact of the disease, including intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalisations, admissions and deaths – and about vaccines given and vaccination status, particularly among those over 60 years of age at risk.
WHO has reaffirmed the importance of vaccination and booster shots to protect against serious illness and death for those most at risk.
