Morocco suspends air traffic with France, Spain over coronavirus surge

Morocco is suspending flights to France and Spain due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, the kingdom's government said in a statement on Monday.

The North African country also extended the curfew and other restrictive measures by two weeks. According to the government, the decision was made in accordance with the Scientific and Technical Committee's recommendations and will enter into force on Tuesday. The ban on flights will remain in place until further notice.

The curfew from 9.00 p.m. (20:00 GMT) to 6.00 a.m. was introduced on December 23, 2020. Besides, authorities have banned celebrations, public and private gatherings, ordered closures of public facilities, including restaurants, cafes, shopping malls, and non-essential stores from 8.00 p.m. local time.

Morocco launched a national coronavirus vaccination campaign on January 28, after receiving the first batch of 2 million doses of the UK AstraZeneca vaccine, as well as 500,000 doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine.

The North African country has so far registered over 494,000 cases of COVID-19 altogether with 8,807 deaths.