Morocco to extend night curfew to limit COVID-19 surge

A member of Morocco’s Interior Ministry Auxiliary Forces stands next to a vehicle while on patrol in a neighborhood, enforcing the reimposed lockdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in the capital Rabat’s old city. (File/AFP)
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Updated 02 August 2021
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Morocco to extend night curfew to limit COVID-19 surge

  • The move is expected to hurt tourism business which pinned hopes on the summer season to attract national tourists
  • Daily COVID-19 infections have oscillated between 4,000 and 9,000 over the past week

RABAT: Morocco will lengthen its night curfew, starting two hours earlier at 9 p.m. (2000 GMT) from Tuesday, as it tightens restrictions to counter a surge in coronavirus infections, the government said on Monday.
The business and tourist hubs of Casablanca, Agadir and Marakech will be closed except to holders of the vaccine pass or those on necessary travel, the government said in a statement.
The move is expected to hurt tourism business which pinned hopes on the summer season to attract national tourists after travel receipts dropped 70 percent in the first half this year.
Daily COVID-19 infections have oscillated between 4,000 and 9,000 over the past week as the total number of cases people rose to 569,452 cases, including 9,885 deaths.
However, Morocco has outpaced other African peers in its vaccine push, administering 24 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines.
Last week, the country started administering Johnson and Johnson doses after receiving a shipment of 300,000 jabs. 


Syria army enters Al-Hol camp holding relatives of miltants

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Syria army enters Al-Hol camp holding relatives of miltants

  • Al-Hol houses around 24,000 people, including 15,000 Syrians and about 6,300 foreign women and children of 42 nationalities
AL-HOL CAMP, Syria: Syria’s army on Wednesday entered the country’s vast Al-Hol detention camp that houses relatives of suspected Daesh militants, from which Kurdish forces withdrew the day before, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
The correspondent saw a large number of soldiers open the camp’s metal gate and enter. Al-Hol houses around 24,000 people, including 15,000 Syrians and about 6,300 foreign women and children of 42 nationalities.