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Covid-19: Morocco suspends flights with UK, Germany and Netherlands

Rabat has halted flights 'until further notice' as the three European countries see rising number of cases
People board a Royal Air Maroc flight on 15 July 2020 at Bordeaux's airport in southern France (AFP)

Morocco will suspend direct flights with the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands over rising Covid-19 cases in Europe starting on Thursday, flag carrier RAM said on Wednesday.

Morocco recently announced that it would impose a mandatory vaccine pass for access to public places and inter-city travel after it inoculated most of its adult population.

Morocco has been seeing cases and deaths decrease, and is seeking to get 80 percent of the population - around 30 million people - vaccinated. 

So far, Morocco has administered two Covid-19 vaccine doses to 21 million people, and has launched a third dose drive as well as a vaccination passport programme set to begin on Thursday.

Morocco’s National Office of Airports (ONDA) noted in a statement that the decision would be implemented at midnight on Wednesday “until further notice”.

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On 5 October, Rabat had similarly suspended flights to and from Russia over Moscow’s high number of cases.

The UK is now witnessing some 40,000 new cases each day, a rate much higher than in the rest of Europe, while Germany and the Netherlands have also seen a rise in cases.

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