Turkey and Morocco eased restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the European bloc recommended unifying travel conditions, while Brussels and London still had reservations about suspending patents for Corona vaccines.
The easing in Turkey included lifting part of the general isolation imposed on the weekend, and opening restaurants to a limited number of customers.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the easing of measures, as a result of the decline in the number of injuries, will take effect from today, Tuesday. Under the new rules, the daily curfew imposed across the country will be delayed by an hour, starting from ten in the evening.
Erdogan
But on Monday, Russia announced the extension of restrictions on flights with Turkey until June 21.
It is noteworthy that Turkish Airlines announced last April 15 the suspension of all round-trip flights to and
Morocco, West, sunset
In Morocco, the government announced yesterday, Monday, the easing of restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the Corona virus, starting from the first of this June, by allowing the establishment of gatherings and activities according to specific conditions and controls.
The government said that this comes “taking into account the positive results recorded in the trend of infection with the Corona virus and the progress achieved in the vaccination process.”
The Moroccan government statement added that it “has decided to allow the organization of gatherings and activities in closed spaces for less than 50 people, and to allow the organization of gatherings and activities in open spaces for less than 100 people, with the obligation to obtain a license from local authorities in case this number exceeds.”
It also determined that the capacity of public transport should be 75%, and decided to open theaters, cinemas, cultural centers, libraries, museums and monuments within 50% of its capacity.
It also decided to allow the banquet and wedding halls to resume work within the limits of 50% of their capacity, provided that the number of attendees does not exceed 100 persons, and to allow access to the beaches with the need to respect social distancing, as well as open public swimming pools within 50% of their capacity.
Standardization of terms
In this context, Brussels recommended yesterday, Monday, the 27 member states of the European Union, to exempt the bloc’s residents from Covid-19 “passports” who wish to move within the European space from the requirement to be subject to quarantine, and to exempt children under 6 years from the requirement to undergo Corona examinations, in order to unify the conditions Travel within the conglomerate before summer.
From the first of next July, all residents of the European Union immunized against the virus will receive a digital document proving this, in a measure aimed at facilitating the return to freedom of movement in European space as it was in the pre-Corona time.
However, 7 of the 27 EU countries intend to start issuing these digital documents from today, Tuesday, the day when – from a technical point of view – the system will start operating, according to what the European Commissioner Didier Reynders announced.
This digital document proves one of 3 things: Either its holder received an anti-virus vaccine, or he underwent a laboratory test that proved he was free of the virus, or he was infected with the virus less than 180 days ago and thus still has immunity to the virus.
In order to facilitate the travel of families with children who did not receive the vaccine because of their young age, the European Commission recommends that these children not be subjected to quarantine when their parents are exempt from it, and that children under the age of 6 years are exempted from all types of tests related to Corona.
As for tourists from third countries, Reynders explained that “if they come to Europe with evidence that they have received the vaccine, they will also be able to obtain European certificates for travel within the European Union.”
In an effort to re-launch the tourist wheel within the bloc before the summer season, the European Commission is seeking to standardize the procedures that will be subject to the holders of this document when they travel within the bloc, but the decision in this regard is up to each country separately.
patents
On the other hand, a representative of the World Trade Organization announced yesterday, Monday, that the European Union, Britain and Japan still had reservations about the proposal to suspend patents for vaccines against Covid-19.
A representative of the World Trade Organization said that during an informal meeting held by the organization at its headquarters in Geneva to discuss the issue related to commercial intellectual property rights, proposals were welcomed to start discussions on specific texts to suspend work on intellectual property rights for vaccines against Coronavirus.
However, a number of Member States “continued to express doubts about the appropriateness of starting negotiations and requested more time” to analyze the proposals made in this regard.
He explained that the countries that have expressed these reservations are the European Union countries, Australia, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan.
South Africa and India are leading a campaign to suspend the intellectual property rights that protect vaccines against the Coronavirus so that the countries of the whole world can produce the doses they need to vaccinate their people.