Rabat, Dec 25 (IANS): The Moroccan airport authority (ONDA) announced the extension of the international flight ban for one more month to January 31, 2022.

During a cabinet meeting, the North African country has extended the state of health emergency throughout the country until January 31, 2022, reports Xinhua news agency.

The suspension of international passenger flights, and the closure of Morocco's air borders came into force on Novemver 29, in order to curb the spread of the new Covid-19 variant omicron.

It has also stopped the repatriation flights of its nationals stranded abroad, launched between December 15 to 23 from Portugal, Turkey, and the UAE.

Only special repatriation flights from Morocco are now authorized, particularly to France, Turkey, the US, and Gulf countries.

Meanwhile, Morocco recorded 654 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, while 237 patients have recovered, according to the Ministry of Health.

A total of 24,525,567 people have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and the number of fully vaccinated people has reached 22,885,067, while 2,655,175 people have received the booster shot.