By simplifying the visitor's medical history, the Kingdom aims to identify cases of viral diseases in time

Marruecos anuncia la creación de una nueva tarjeta sanitaria para el turismo

photo_camera AFP/FADEL SENNA - Tourists in the Jemaa el-Fnaa square in the Moroccan city of Marrakech

Morocco's concern for preserving the health of its citizens continues and the nation's government is taking action. The Ministry of Health, in line with the recommendations of the National Air Transport Facilitation Committee, has announced that a new health card will be created for travellers entering the country.

This new card is intended to facilitate the process of entering the Kingdom and make it easier for health authorities to do their job. In addition, tourists will be better controlled in terms of illnesses and any cases will be quickly detected. This is because the ministry says that "the country's medical history has been updated, simplified and standardised".

Turistas comprando en el casco antiguo de la ciudad marroquí de Marrakech AFP/FADEL SENNA

The Alawi kingdom aims, through this health card, to detect early any case of a viral or life-threatening disease for all citizens. The Ministry of Health says it will be used to detect cases of COVID-19, but it will also be used to detect cases of monkeypox. The disease is already causing an international uproar and the WHO has raised the alert level because of the number of infections.

"The passenger medical record is therefore the initial tool in the process of identifying and tracing contact cases for investigation and response," says the WHO.

From now on, anyone wishing to enter Morocco, whether by land, air or sea, must have this card in force. With this, the Kingdom ensures that all travellers meet the same conditions. 

Pasajeros llegan al aeropuerto Mohammed V en la ciudad occidental marroquí de Casablanca PHOTO/AFP

Passengers must have this medical record downloaded on their mobile phone or on paper before boarding the plane to Morocco. However, it is reminded that although all your health data will appear on this card, you will have to present your COVID passport with the complete vaccination schedule or, failing that, a negative PCR test carried out 72 hours before travelling. The Ministry reminds that young people between 12 and 18 years of age must have all doses of the vaccine and those under 12 do not have to present any report and are exempt from any requirement to enter the country.

Concern about the epidemiological situation in Morocco is decreasing and this is because the vaccination campaigns are bearing fruit. For this reason, the government began to relax the measures a few months ago, but it remains alert to what might happen.

Aziz Akhannouch's government announced a new extension of the national health emergency. This extension of the pandemic situation will remain in force until 30 September and is intended to continue guaranteeing the safety and health of Moroccans. The country wants to avoid new waves of coronavirus infection at all costs.

Aeropuerto Mohammed V en la ciudad occidental marroquí de Casablanca PHOTO/AFP

But COVID seems to have taken a back seat to monkeypox. Morocco confirmed the first case on 2 June, a traveller from Europe, and has had no further cases since then, but the situation in other countries such as Spain, where more than 3,000 people have been infected, is causing concern.

At the time, the UK acted quickly and set up a programme to respond to the disease. This plan aims to learn from what happened with COVID and not repeat the same mistakes. It has therefore been divided into four phases to combat the disease. In the first phase, all healthcare personnel will receive the maximum information on how this virus attacks, its diagnosis and treatment. Then, specialised centres will be set up to send samples as quickly as possible and get the results before it is too late. Then, in case they are positive for monkeypox, contacts will be traced for testing and, finally, infected persons will be confined to avoid further risks.

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