Morocco will ease coronavirus lockdown measures for the services sector and domestic transport from June 24, the government said.
Cafes, restaurants, sports clubs, and other services and entertainment businesses will be allowed to resume activity at half capacity except in the provinces of Tangier, Larache, Marrakech and Kenitra, where Covid-19 infections remain higher, it said.
Domestic travel will resume, including flights and railways, but international passenger traffic remains suspended.
Mosques have been closed since the lockdown started on March 20, and the state of emergency has been extended to July 10. Schools will reopen in September.
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Coronavirus in the Middle East
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A Moroccan, who tested positing for Covid-19, arrives in a parking lot in the town of Moulay Bousselham, north of the capital Rabat, ahead of being transferred to a medical center in another city. AFP -
A policeman, wearing a protective face shield, signals to passengers at the Sharm el-Sheikh international airport in Egypt. AFP -
An Iraqi works on Informative signs with coronavirus guidelines reading in Arabic "Your health is important to us, sterility of your hand" at a local printing house in Baghdad. EPA -
Students of 8th grade wearing masks waits for their High School Transition System (LGS) examination at the Fevzi Ozbey secondary school in Ankara, Turkey. EPA -
Travellers wearing face masks ride a bus, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Manama, Bahrain. Reuters -
A man jumps into a swimming pool at Laguava Resort, in Rmaileh, south of Beirut as Lebanon has eased lockdown restrictions and reopened almost all businesses including beaches, pools, restaurants and cafes. AP Photo -
Domestic tourists visit the reopened Petra archeological site, in Petra, some 280 km south of Amman, Jordan. EPA
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The announcement came as a new field hospital opened in eastern Morocco after more more than 500 cases were detected there on Friday, a record single-day rise for the kingdom.
Most of the cases were from an outbreak in fruit packing plants in eastern Kenitra province.
Authorities closed facilities, tested workers and launched an investigation to "establish responsibility" for the outbreak, official news agency MAP quoted Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit as saying.
The field hospital will receive "around 700 registered cases" from Sunday, he said.
Strawberry fields in Kenitra – usually busy with workers harvesting at this time of year – were deserted at the weekend.
Several towns in the region were placed under quarantine and screenings were carried out among residents, who were asked to go out only in cases of "extreme necessity".
A dozen ambulances were stationed in Moulay Bousselham, one of the quarantined towns, ready to be sent to pick up confirmed cases.
Morocco, with a population of 34 million, has reported nearly 10,000 cases and 213 deaths from the novel coronavirus.
