Morocco's Cafes and Restaurants to have limited opening on Friday!

The Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade, and Digital Economy declared today that cafes and restaurant owners can resume their service activities starting tomorrow, May 29.

However, the resumption only allows mobile orders and delivery services to customers, indicated the ministry in a press release.

In order to ensure the protection of customers and prevent a major COVID-19 outbreak, the ministry’s statement called on cafe and restaurant owners to comply with the preventive measures and health rules issued by health authorities.

Preventive measures include ensuring the cleanliness of the workplace and installations on a daily basis, guaranteeing adequate ventilation for the workplace, providing antiseptic solutions and protective masks for workers, as well as organizing a work schedule that reduces the presence of employees at the same time.

Employers also must respect the rules of social distancing between employees themselves and between employees and customers, as well as ensuring the safety of food products during the process of preparing, packaging, and delivering orders to customers.

Restaurant and cafe workers also must deliver orders outside their facilities.

The ministry also urged the owners to help raise awareness about the spread of COVID-19 among their employees, to comply with sanitary measures inside and outside the food service facilities, and inform health authorities if they suspect a COVID-19 infection among staff.

Ministry-affiliated oversight committees will be monitoring and tracking the extent of compliance with these rules, and taking necessary measures and sanctions against violators, the release concluded.

Moroccan cafes and restaurants have been closed since March 16, following the Ministry of the Interior’s ban of public gatherings over 50 people.

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Farewell to a Much Loved Fez Identity - Michel Biehn

Michel Biehn in 2013

One of Fez's most colourful residents; hotelier and collector Michel Biehn, passed away on May 21. He was an aesthete and an artist; a larger-than-life character who made many friends

At the age of 71, Michel leaves behind an abundant legacy of books, exhibitions, and textile collections, plus the interiors of houses and hotels which benefited from his unique and eclectic style.  He was also a gourmand, and wrote several recipe books.

Together with his wife Catherine, Michel was the owner of the boutique hotel Jardin des Biehn - a former pasha's palace in the Fez Medina. The much photographed hotel and its associated restaurant, Fez Cafe, is a showcase for his collection of textiles and objets d'art. The walls are covered with his paintings. It continues to be managed by his son Paul.

"I started to collect textiles about 30 years ago," Michel said in 2013, when I interviewed him about his Veils and Turbans exhibition. "I was at a dinner party with an historian who was preparing an exhibition on Kashmiri shawls. Suddenly doors opened up, and I realised there were all these stories (behind them) about trade, wars, and wealth. So I began to collect more."

Then based in the town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, in Provence, France, Michel Biehn became widely known as an antique and textile dealer and also an interior designer. His growing passion for collecting and dealing in textiles took him all over the planet, to Asia and the Middle East, until he had accumulated thousands of pieces.

He published some 16 books, including Couleurs de Provence, La Conversation des Objets, Le Cahier de Recettes Provençales, and La Cuisine du Pacha.

A decade ago, Michel's love of juxtaposing colour and pattern found a new home at what was to become Jardin des Biehn. It was then owned by the heirs of Si Tayeb el Mokri, who served Morocco as finance minister and as pasha of Casablanca until his death in 1949. After a major renovation, the hotel opened with nine rooms and suites, and has recently expanded to 14. It has been the site of fashion shows, art exhibitions, yoga workshops and concert performances.

As Christopher Petkanas wrote in the New York Times in 2011:

"He (Michel Biehn) debarked in Morocco with a shipping container filled with a lifetime of scholarly collections assembled throughout the East — nautilus shells with cameo-like engravings of Alexander the Great’s chariot, shapely Syrian ewers, Ottoman ostrich eggs suspended in the most delicate crocheted nets. Consequently there’s a lot of museum-quality eye candy at Le Jardin des Biehn — a striking suzani from Samarkand here, a luscious Yemenite silk robe there. The only other hotel I know that is such a concentrated expression of one man’s taste, designed around the personal booty of a world-class collector, is Alistair McAlpine’s Il Convento di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli in Puglia, Italy."

Michel will be missed not only by his family - wife Catherine, children Paul, Jeanne, and Louis, and his three grandchildren - but by the wider Fez community, in which he had carved an integral niche. He was a kind and friendly man, who enjoyed conversations with friends and guests alike.

Vale Michel Biehn.

Story and pictures by Suzanna Clarke

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Meknes Declared Corona Virus Free

On Sunday evening he prefecture of Meknes was declared free of Covid19, after the recovery of the last patient under treatment at Sidi Said hospital.

Since the start of the epidemic in Meknes, 119 patients have tested positive and 3,700 cases excluded. Among them, 105 were cured while 14 deaths were recorded.

Meknes is thus added to the four provinces of the Fès-Meknes region free from Coronavirus. These are Taza, Moulay Yaacoub, Ifrane and Boulemane. The latter has not registered any case so far.

In the past 24 hours, eleven cases of recovery from the new Coronavirus have been recorded in the Fès-Meknès region, bringing the total number of remissions to 765. The cure rate thus stands at 76.9pc, according to the balance sheet communicated, Sunday at 4 p.m., by the regional health department.

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Heatwave to Hit Morocco

The National Meteorology Directorate (DMN) declared in a special bulletin that Morocco will see a heatwave from Saturday, May 23 to Tuesday, May 26 in several provinces.

In a special orange-level bulletin, DMN indicates that temperatures will vary between 40 and 44 degrees Celsius in the southern provinces of Oued Eddahab, Boujdour, Es Smara, Laayoune, Tan-Tan, Guelmim, Taroudant, and the western provinces of Sidi Kacem and Sidi Slimane.

Temperatures between 37 and 41 degrees Celsius will cover Agadir, Marrakech, Settat, Khouribga Meknes, Kenitra and Ouazzane for the same period.

This heat wave follows severe wind and thunderstorms that hit several Moroccan regions last week.

The rainy weather could be beneficial for Morocco’s agriculture season, which is marked by a lack of rainfall.

The rainfall last week might also help Morocco increase its cereals output.

This week, the National Ports Agency (ANP) announced that Morocco’s cereals imports in 2020 reached a total of 3.5 million tons, as of April 30, against 3.4 million tons during the same period in 2019, which translates to an increase of 38%.

Wheat imports increased by 38% over the same period last year.

ANP acknowledged that the drought which hit this year’s agricultural season and the state of emergency due to COVID-19 directly affected the flow of cereals imports through commercial ports.

In order to support farmers affected by drought in Marrakech-Safi’s Rehamna region, the Mutual Moroccan Agricultural Insurance Company (MAMDA) has allocated MAD 200 million ($20.2 million) to help them cope with the damage.

Some regions in southern and central Morocco, however, are still suffering the effects of drought due to their geographic location.

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Morocco Extends State of Emergency Until June 10

The Moroccan government has decided to extend the country’s state of emergency for three more weeks until June 10, says Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani

Morocco's Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani.

The state of emergency, previously scheduled to end on May 20, was one of Morocco’s boldest measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by restricting the movement of citizens and enforcing social distancing.

The extension aims to avoid the emergence of virus hotspots and confirms the country’s priority of protecting human lives at all cost, El Othmani said during a joint parliamentary session.

El Othmani said the “R0” reproduction rate must remain below one for more than two weeks, and must be less than 0.7 for maximum safety. The R0 represents the average number of people a single person with COVID-19 infects.

Currently, the R0 in Morocco is 0.9. Previously it was as high as 2.9.

The lockdown has helped curb the spread of the coronavirus by 80% and prevented 300,000 to 500,000 cases. Thanks to the lockdown, El Othmani said, Morocco prevented 9,000-15,000 deaths and an average of 600 new cases and 200 deaths daily.

Virus hotspots continue to appear within families and industrial production units, a situation the head of government said “is very worrying.” Health authorities identified 467 hotspots since the start of the outbreak, accounting for 65% of the total cases. Half of that 65% came from family gatherings, either celebrations or funerals.

Twenty-seven hotspots remain active.

With 99 new cases from just three hotspots on Sunday, El Othmani warned of the “seriousness” of the issue.

“We do not want the Eid to turn from happiness to sorrow,” he said.

“I understand how Moroccans are feeling, tired and anxious. We are all feeling the pain of not being able to pray in mosques during Ramadan.”

While assuring Parliament the situation is stable, El Othmani reiterated it is not safe yet and the situation is still worrying.

He acknowledged that some citizens are not respecting lockdown measures as strictly as they were at the start.

Ministers and experts have been discussing the situation for some time before coming to this decision.

“It was difficult to balance between socio-economic damage and health threats. Every solution has negatives,” El Othmani said.

Morocco announced a state of emergency on March 19 and enacted it one day later. At the time, the country had recorded 86 COVID-19 cases and had just started detecting the first patients who contracted the virus locally.

On April 18, two days before the original end date of the state of emergency, the Moroccan government decided to extend the nationwide lockdown for an additional month as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country exceeded 2,500.

Two days before the government announced the extension, on April 16, Morocco recorded 259 new COVID-19 cases in one day, the highest daily increase to this date.

The new lockdown extension comes less than a week before Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Moroccans, and Muslims in general, usually celebrate the holiday by visiting their relatives and organising family gatherings. However, such practices during the COVID-19 pandemic could create new hotspots and further spread the virus.

As of this morning, Morocco has recorded 6,930 cases of the coronavirus, 3,006 of which are active.

While the number of new COVID-19 recoveries has regularly exceeded the number of new cases over the past couple of weeks, decreasing the number of active cases, it remains to be seen how Morocco’s epidemiological situation will develop during the extended lockdown period and whether the country will finally start a “deconfinement” process.

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Morocco Considering 15-Day Extension of COVID-19 Lockdown

Morocco’s government may decide today to extend the lockdown for at least another 15 days.

The lockdown is set to end on May 20 and Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani is scheduled to discuss the country’s post-lockdown strategy today (May 18th).

Moroccan outlet Le360, however, quoted sources close to the government who said El Othmani will announce the extension of lockdown at todays parliamentary session.

According to the sources, El Othmani confirmed the extension during a meeting of the general secretariat of his party, the Justice and Development Party (PJD).

“Citizens will have to wait at least another two weeks before implementing progressive deconfinement,” the source said.

The source added that the extension seeks to avoid the spread of COVID-19 and the appearance of virus hotspots.

“We must maintain the usual precautions because we are not immune to an increase in contamination,” the source said.

The same source said that Morocco’s Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb is “totally opposed” to deconfinement given the current epidemiological situation.

Morocco originally set the end of its lockdown to April 20. Two days prior, the government council decided to extend confinement for another month until May 20.

Before the end of the first lockdown period, Le360 quoted a source alleging an extension of another month. The source proved to be correct on April 18 when the government announced the second extension.

However, on April 30, Le360 quoted government sources as expressing confidence that Morocco will lift its lockdown as scheduled and enter its deconfinement phase on May 20.

The outlet attributed the sources’ optimism to Morocco’s low COVID-19 mortality rate. At the time, the country had recorded 170 deaths related to the virus.

Morocco still maintains a low COVID-19 fatality rate of 2.8% and a recovery rate of 53.3%, with 192 deaths and 3,660 recoveries related to the pandemic. Total cases currently stand at 6,870, and Morocco reports more recovered patients than active infections.

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Morocco - Latest Coronavirus Update - May 17 4pm

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Fez Medina Under Lockdown - Photo Essay - Suzanna Clarke

The streets of the Fez Medina are unusually quiet due to the Coronavirus lockdown and the last days of Ramadan. Suzanna Clarke went for a stroll and found few people but a lot of cats enjoying the peace and quiet.

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Morocco - Latest COVID-19 Update - May 16th 4pm

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Morocco Turns Wet and Windy with Cooler Temperatures

The Moroccan National Directorate of Meteorology (DMN) issued a notice to inform citizens of a forecast of strong gusts of wind and local thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday in several provinces throughout Morocco.

The notice forecasts strong gusts of wind between 75 to 90 kilometers per hour on Wednesday that will hit the provinces of Marrakech, Chichaoua, Youssoufia, Rhamna, Al Haouz, Azilal, Beni Mellal, Kelaa des Sraghna, Fkih Ben Saleh, Khouribga, Taounate, Taza, Sefrou, Meknes, and Fez.

The cities of El Hajeb, Khemisset, Ifrane, and Boulemane will also witness strong gusts of wind ranging between 75 and 90 kilometers per hour.

The winds will also hit several eastern cities, such as Taourirt, Jerada, Guercif, Oujda.

The cities of Essaouira, Safi, Sidi Bennour, El Jadida, Berrechid, Nouasseur, Casablanca, Mediouna, Benslimane, Mohammedia, Skhirat-Temara, Rabat-Sale, Settat, and Ouarzazate will also see gusts of wind ranging between 75 and 90 kilometers per hour.

Fairly strong gusts of wind ranging between 60 and 70 kilometers per hour will hit the provinces of Taroudant, Tata, Guelmim, Tiznit, Midelt, Chefchaouen, Ouezzane, Sidi Kacem, Khenifra, Zagora, Errachidia, and Tinghir.

These gusts might continue on Thursday on the northern and central plains and on the southeastern regions.

DMN also forecasts locally heavy orange-level thunderstorms from Wednesday at 4 p.m. to Thursday at 6 a.m. in the provinces of Azilal, Al Houz, Beni Mellal, Khenifra, Ifrane, Sefrou, Taza, Guercif, Taourirt, Nador, Berkane, Driouch, and Oujda.

The showers will be accompanied by gusts of wind and hail in some provinces.

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Morocco Expecting a Weekend Heatwave

The National Meteorology Directorate (DMN) issued a special notice on April 30 about a heatwave expected to hit several Moroccan provinces from May 2-4.

Temperatures ranging from 36 and to 41 degrees Celsius will hit the provinces of Sidi Slimane, Sidi Kacem, Marrakech, Rehamena, Youssoufia, Kelaa Sraghna, Fkih Bensalah, Chichaoua, Chtouka Ait Baha, Tiznit, and Sidi Ifni.

The heat wave also concerns the regions of Taroudant, Guelim, Tan-Tan, Tata, Assa-Zaf, Tarfaya, Laayoune, Es-Semara, Boujdour, Oued Eddahab, and Aousserd.

The notice also forecasts another heat wave, with temperatures between 34 and 39 degrees Celsius, for the cities of Kenitra, Fez, Meknes, Moulay Yacoub, El-Hajeb, Sale, Temara-Skhirat, Mohammedia, Casablanca, Nouasseur, Berrechid, Benslimane, Mediouna, and Khouribga.

The same heat wave will hit the regions of El Jadida, Safi, Sidi Bennour, Essaouira, Settat, Oujda, Taourirt, and Guercif.

The heatwave follows cold and rainy weather across Morocco, which helped the country to refill its dams after a tough season with delayed rainfalls.

The recent increase in precipitation in Morocco has improved the fill rate of dams from 46.2% on March 18 to 49.7%.

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