The decision was approved by a decree during the weekly meeting of the Governing Council

Marruecos prolonga por sexta vez el estado de emergencia sanitaria por un mes

AFP/ FADEL SENNA - Members of the Auxiliary Forces of the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior patrol a neighbourhood to enforce the re-imposed closure due to an increase in cases of coronavirus, in the district of Takadoum, the capital, Rabat, on 17 August 2020

EFE

09 de septiembre de 2020 (15:15 h.)

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The Moroccan government today extended for a further month, until 10 October, the "state of health emergency" which includes a series of restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to the announcement made by the Moroccan prime minister, Saadedin Otmani.

The decision was approved by a decree during the weekly meeting of the Governing Council, after Morocco has recorded record numbers of people infected with the virus since last Sunday.

Last Sunday, infections throughout the country reached 2,234 cases in a single day, the highest figure recorded since the beginning of the disease in the Maghreb country, and yesterday, Tuesday, the number of cases exceeded 1,900, the second highest record.

The state of health emergency, declared on 20 March, gives the Ministry of the Interior broad powers to take preventive measures in the event of outbreaks of the coronavirus, such as the closure of industrial and commercial complexes and schools, and even the isolation of entire neighbourhoods and cities.

The application of restrictions is proving to be very different from region to region, depending precisely on the wide powers of local authorities to implement them with a simple administrative decision.

Last Sunday, the government announced for the second time the closure of the city of Casablanca, the most populated city and economic capital of the country, starting the next day and for fourteen days, after the upsurge of the coronavirus infections, which have added 934 cases in the population and its surrounding region in only 24 hours.

The pandemic progressed very slowly in the first months, thanks to the strict confinement decreed by the authorities, but in August, with the first measures of decontamination, contagion has soared to over a thousand new cases almost every day.

In his last address on 20 August King Mohammed VI warned that the country could return to house arrest in view of the "unacceptable neglect and relaxation" of the population.