"All students will return to their classes next Monday and there will be no extension of school vacations," he said at a press briefing held after the Council of Government's meeting, chaired by the Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch.

He added that the Ministry of National Education will work to strengthen the preventive measures applied in schools, noting that the interaction with the evolution of the epidemiological situation in schools will be done locally, through the coordination of school officials with officials of the Ministry of National Education at the regional level, as well as provincial authorities, in accordance with the provisions of the decree-law regulating the health emergency.

He also stressed that the efforts made by the Kingdom have prevented an epidemic setback that would have affected the economic sector.

"We have seen an increase in cases of COVID-19 infection in the last period, despite preventive measures and significant vaccination efforts," he said, adding that "it has been scientifically proven that if we had not taken these measures, the situation would have been different," both in terms of human losses and economy.

He added that the decisions taken by the Executive, based on the recommendations of the scientific committee, have contributed to the preservation of economic gains, while avoiding resorting to the harsh decisions currently applied by some countries in the European neighborhood, such as complete closure and quarantine.

The closure measures depend on the improvement of the epidemiological situation in the neighborhood, he noted, adding that the government would move towards the relaxation of measures if the situation improves.