Marruecos prohíbe la entrada a viajeros procedentes de China por el repunte de Covid-19

Decisive measures in the face of the alarming upsurge of Covid-19 cases in China. Morocco is banning all travellers from China, regardless of their nationality, from 3 January, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement. 

The measure comes in the context of the growing number of Covid-19 infections in the Asian country, which could reach a peak in the middle of this month with almost 4 million cases per day. A wave of infections that comes after the relaxation of strict Covid zero policy measures is causing many countries to take action, including Morocco, whose authorities say they have been closely monitoring the health situation in China.

Faced with this alarming situation, the World Health Organisation has demanded "more information" from China and a regular exchange of data for proper risk assessment, to which Beijing has responded that it has already been sharing its data "openly, punctually and transparently" since the pandemic began.

According to the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, this decision to stop the influx of travellers from China aims to "avoid a new outbreak of Covid-19 in Morocco and the repercussions that such an outbreak would entail". The measure comes into force on 3 January 2023 and will remain in force until further notice. 

With this measure, Morocco joins the list of countries that have enacted a total ban or imposed stricter travel policies on travellers from China. This list includes the United States, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Spain and Australia. Many of these countries have opted to require a negative PCR test for travellers from China although, experts say, this is not sufficient for a Chinese population whose vaccines are of questionable effectiveness. 

For the moment, the health situation in Morocco is under control and the number of active cases of the coronavirus stands at 1,080, according to the H24INFO portal. It is also expected that the impact of this wave of Covid-19 infections will not be as violent as in the past. In Morocco, almost 24 million people have received the second dose of the vaccine and almost 7 million have received the third dose. These figures reveal the high immunity against Covid-19.

Within these measures, Moroccan diplomacy has affirmed that they do not affect the relationship between Rabat and Beijing. "This exceptional measure in no way affects the sincere friendship between the two peoples or the strategic partnership between the two countries, to which the Kingdom remains firmly attached," clarified the Moroccan diplomatic statement. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping himself, at the last Sino-Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, expressed his desire to work and strengthen ties with the various Arab states, to which Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch conveyed King Mohammed VI's desire to strengthen and consolidate cooperation between Rabat and Beijing.