The National Institutes of Health Sciensano found that 7.5% of people returning to Belgium from Morocco tested positive for coronavirus.
Although the frequency of positive test results among travelers returning from the countries on the red list has decreased from 4.9 to 2.9 percent since July, Spain had the highest infection rate: 7 percent of all newcomers tested positive for the virus.
Biostatist Geert Molenbergs noted that people arriving from Morocco are unlikely to follow the travel rules that are reflected in the level of infection.
In the first week of July, only 0.9 percent of arrivals from Morocco gave a positive result, and since then the figure has risen sharply, although in almost all other countries there is a downward trend.
According to the Sciensano Institute of Public Health on August 1, about 2.2% of travelers arriving from Spain tested positive for coronavirus, about 2.3% came from Turkey and 1.7% from Portugal.
Travelers arriving from France faced a shortage, reaching 0.9% of testing and 0.3% for those arriving from the Netherlands.
However, the increase in the number of positive tests among travelers returning from Morocco reflects the increase in infections in the country itself, which is currently in the red category of Belgian countries for COVID-19.
Molenbergs also noted that about 10,000 people are infected with the coronavirus every day in Morocco, compared to 500 a day in early July, with about one in five people in the country giving a positive result.
Data from the World Health Organization show that health authorities in Morocco have registered 105 deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours and 9,778 positive cases with the virus.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has registered 10,509 deaths and 711,103 positive cases.
Travelers returning from Morocco are required to be tested upon arrival in Belgium, even if they are fully vaccinated. Those who have not been fully vaccinated should be quarantined within ten days of arrival and repeat PCR or antigen testing on the seventh day of self-isolation.