Moroccan authorities on Thursday slapped tight controls on movement in Casablanca and Marrakesh, the North African country's economic and tourist capitals, following a spike in coronavirus cases. Several beaches were closed in Casablanca, Morocco's largest city with 3.3 million inhabitants, following similar measures imposed on Tuesday near the capital Rabat. COVID CASES ON THE RISECOVID-19 infections have been on the rise since the start of August and now exceed 1,000 new cases per day in the country of 35 million. Thursday's tally was 1,325 new cases and 32 deaths, the latter up from 29 on Wednesday. The north African country has confirmed a total of over 47,500 covid cases, including 775 deaths.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 20, 2020 15:11 UTC