Morocco to reopen airports on June 15; vaccination or test certificate needed

The move comes after months of suspension with some 50 countries.

All travellers will be admitted into the country if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or had a negative PCR test, the ministry said in a statement.

Two lists of countries have been drawn up with different access rules: list A includes “all countries with positive indicators” including those of the European Union, while list B concerns 74 countries with “a spread of variants or the absence of precise statistics on the epidemiological situation ”, among which India, Algeria, Argentina or South Africa, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Travelers arriving from List A countries, whether Moroccan or not, must have a vaccination certificate and a negative PCR result of less than 48 hours. Conditions are stricter for travelers from countries on list B. They must have exceptional authorisations, a negative PCR test of less than 48 hours and undergo a 10-day medical isolation once there. The two lists will be updated “regularly at least twice a month as needed,” the statement said.

Nationals of countries where the coronavirus is surging or those lacking reliable data will have to provide a special permit to enter Morocco and have a negative test, it said.

In addition, Moroccans living abroad will be able from June 15 to return to Morocco by sea, from the ports of Sète in France and Genoa in Italy, with a negative PCR test on boarding and another carried out at arrival.

Morocco has last month eased a set of restrictive measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, allowing cinemas and theatres to re-open as it continues its vaccination campaign.

The North African country has so far outperformed others on the continent by administering 5 million doses of the AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines, as it pursues plans to inoculate all people aged over 17.

REUTERS