APRIL 2 • 2020 | 25
details. They continued to tour
into Sunday, staying relatively
close to the airport.
Suddenly, the tour stopped
short — the group was instruct-
ed to board a bus headed
straight for the Casablanca
airport. They needed to leave
immediately.
According to AP
News, Morocco placed a ban
on international passenger
flights and ships that same
day. The country now is in
full lockdown mode, shutting
down hotels, restaurants and
more. Many U.S. citizens are still
stranded there.
Temple Israel worked with
the tour organizer, Arza World
Travel for Reform Judaism, to
get everyone back to Detroit.
“It was like we were a moving
target and things were escalating
very quickly,
” said Linda Kovan,
who resides in Novi. She and
several other participants went
through Washington, D.C., to
get back to Detroit.
All participants made it back
safe and sound to their respec-
tive homes. Temple Israel cler-
gy sent a letter to the group,
urging them to self-quarantine
for 14 days.
Murav says no trip partici-
pants have contracted COVID-
19. She is thankful for good
friends who have dropped off
food because her self-quarantine
leaves her unable to go to the
grocery store right now. She
says she keeps busy by going
for walks and talking to the
Temple Israel-Morocco group
on WhatsApp.
She is now staying with
Kovan, and both agree that
Temple Israel did a “yeoman’
s
job” of getting them home safely.
“We all got out — we got
there in the nick of time,
” Kovan
said. “It was pretty amazing.
”
Yi
tzak
Rabi
n
cal
l
ed
Magen
Davi
d
Adom
Isr
ael
’
s
second
l
i
ne
of
def
ense.
Wi
th
the
coronavi
rus,
we’
re
the
first.
af
mda.
org/prot
ect
When
t
he
COVID1
9
cor
onavirus
arrived
in
Isr
ael
,
t
he
Minist
ry
of
Heal
t
h
knew
who
coul
d
best
prot
ect
everyone’
s
heal
t
h.
Because
Israel
is
know
Magen
David
Adom
has
t
he
paramedics,
t
raining,
and
vision
t
o
minimize
t
he
spread
of
t
he
disease.
Wit
h
it
s
innovat
ive
home-t
est
ing
program
and
cut
t
ing-edge
video
apps,
MDA
can
l
it
eral
l
y
see
how
pat
ient
s
are
recovering
enabl
ing
most
Isr
ael
is
t
o
r
ecover
at
home,
wher
e
t
hey
can
inf
ect
t
he
f
ewest
peopl
e.
Support
f
r
om
Americans
l
ike
you
has
hel
ped
MDA
shiel
d
al
most
al
l
of
Isr
ael
’
s
9
mil
l
ion
peopl
e
f
r
om
t
his
disease.
But
t
his
fight
has
depl
et
ed
t
he
t
ool
s
and
suppl
ies
MDA
needs
t
o
ensur
e
t
he
inf
ect
ion
r
at
es
don’
t
rise.
Hel
p
Magen
David
Adom
cont
inue
t
o
pr
ot
ect
Isr
ael
is
and
save
l
ives.
Make
a
gi
f
t
t
oday.
Chag
Pesach
sameach.
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3/30/20 12:01 PM
3/30/20 12:01 PM