Morocco bans all cultural, artistic events

RABAT- Morocco’s government banned on Friday all festivals and cultural and artistic events as part of its preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

“On the basis of legal provisions relating to the management of the state of health emergency and strengthening of the necessary preventive measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, the government decided to ban all festivals and all cultural and artistic events,” the government said in a statement.

The government reiterated its call to citizens to strongly adhere to the national vaccination campaign and to continue the responsible commitment by taking all precautionary measures, in order to preserve the gains made and contribute to the gradual return to normal life in the Kingdom, it added.

Morocco banned from November 29 all inbound international passenger flights for two weeks due to concerns over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the Moroccan government said in a statement on Sunday.

The foreign ministry tweeted that the decision was taken to “preserve the achievements realized by Morocco in the fight against the pandemic, and to protect the health of citizens.” It noted the spread of Omicron in Africa and Europe.

The North African kingdom has had among Africa's highest rates of confirmed infections but also is at the forefront of the continent's vaccination effort, with 66% of its population having received at least one dose.