By Mary Moore
Reviewed By Gilmore Health
In Morocco the coronavirus health emergency has been extended for another three weeks, as announced on Monday by the head of government Saâd Dine El Otmani before both chambers of parliament.
He also announced that the decree extending the state of emergency in Morocco will be adopted tomorrow by the Council of Ministers.
This decision was based on several indicators showing that the epidemiological situation in Morocco was stable but still not fully contained.
Read Also: Moroccan Doctors Desert Their Patients Fearing Contamination by Coronavirus
In fact, data from the Ministry of Health show that the “R0” the rate of spread of the virus, which is currently 0.9%, has not yet fallen below the critical threshold recommended by experts of 0.7%, given that it is known that the rate in Morocco was 2.5% at the beginning of the epidemic. The RO must stay below 1 for at least 2 weeks, and ideally be lower than 0.7 for maximum safety.
Also the mortality rate, which was set at 3%, has not achieved the expected results either, although it has improved from over 7% at the beginning of the epidemic to 2.8% today.
Read Also: Why Has Africa Been Somewhat Spared by the Pandemic?
The second indicator that worries the government is the spread of clusters of the epidemic. According to the head of government Saâd Dine El Otman, Morocco has so far recorded 467 outbreaks in 10 regions. These outbreaks have caused no less than 3 800 infections or 56% of the total number of infections registered nationwide. Half of these clusters are family outbreaks and 20% are industrial outbreaks, he said.
Read Also: Morocco: An Increasingly Popular Destination for Plastic Surgeries For Westerners
As a reminder, the health emergency was declared as part of measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far affected no less than 6,930 citizens and killed 192 people. It entered into force on 20 March and was originally due to expire on 20 April, before the authorities decided to extend it for another month, until 20 May this year.
