The Moroccan government has imposed a more extended curfew for the fasting month of Ramadan, from 8 pm to 6 am. The Islamic month of fasting, usually mainly festive in the evening starts on April 13 this year.
In Morocco, stringent restrictions have been in place for more than a year to help fight the coronavirus. Travel bans and curfews are in effect based on a renewed state of emergency, and currently, there is a curfew that starts at 9 pm.
The restrictions during Ramadan 2020 were even more drastic, and many Moroccans hoped that easing would be implemented in that same month this year. But the authorities fear a resurgence of the virus as people take to the streets or go to mosques in large numbers in the evening.
Relatively speaking, the country with 37 million inhabitants has not been hit very hard by the pandemic. Half a million infections have been diagnosed, but approximately 485,000 cases now concern people who had no symptoms or were cured.
Around 8,800 deaths have been reported to date from the coronavirus. About 250 corona patients have been admitted in critical condition. According to local media, there is currently a hospital patient in less than 15 percent of IC beds in the North African country.