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Rabat – The Moroccan Ministry of Health has confirmed four new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 642 as of 6:00 p.m. on April 1.
Director of the Epidemiology Department at the Ministry of Health Mohamed Lyoubi has announced 40 cases in the past 24 hours.
The ministry did not report any additional recoveries or deaths, leaving the number of recovered patients at 26 and the death toll at 37. In the past 24 hours, one patient has died and two have recovered.
The Casablanca-Settat region leads the country with 182 cases, followed by Marrakech-Safi (115), Rabat-Sale-Kenitra (112), and Fez-Meknes (110).
The southern region of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra confirmed its first two cases of the virus earlier today.
The Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region has not yet confirmed any cases of COVID-19.
The hardest-hit cities in Morocco are Casablanca (174 cases), Marrakech (110), Rabat (60), and Meknes (49).
Recoveries in Morocco
Since the start of the outbreak, the Ministry of Health has monitored 5,560 people who made contact with COVID-19 patients, and carried out 2,653 tests on suspected cases that came back negative.
Fifty-five percent of the confirmed COVID-19 cases are male, while 45% are female. The average age of the patients is 56 years, with the youngest two months old and the oldest 96 years old.
When detected, 74% of COVID-19 patients in Morocco displayed mild symptoms while 14% were in critical condition. Around 12% of the cases did not show any symptoms of COVID-19.
Health authorities detected the 70 asymptomatic patients through the daily monitoring process.
The average age of patients in Morocco who fully recovered from the virus is 43.5 years. The youngest patient to recover is nine months old, while the oldest is 80 years old.
The regions of Casablanca-Settat and Rabat-Sale-Kenitra have the highest number of recoveries, with seven cases each, followed by Fez-Meknes (five recoveries), and Marrakech-Safi (four).
Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Souss-Massa, and Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima have recorded one recovery each.
Fourteen recovering patients were in a mild condition when their infection was detected, eight were in critical condition, and four were asymptomatic.
The average treatment period for recovering patients is 12 days, with six days as the shortest recovery duration and 22 days as the longest.
Moroccan hospitals adopted the use of chloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19 on March 24. The Ministry of Health cannot yet comment on the effectiveness of the drug due to the relatively long treatment period.
However, after three or four days, the ministry will be able to share the first indicators on the treatment’s effectiveness.
The coming days are ‘decisive’
Morocco’s government has been strengthening preventive measures against the outbreak of the virus, declaring a state of emergency on March 19.
Despite imposing a nationwide lockdown on March 20, Morocco’s COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed, but the Ministry of Health has called the rise “expected and natural.”
The country entered the second phase of the outbreak upon confirming 500 cases on March 30.
The coming days are decisive for controlling the COVID-19 spread in Morocco. Citizens and residents should abide by the precautionary regulations both inside and outside their homes, the health ministry stressed.
The discovery of asymptomatic cases supports the importance of respecting preventive measures.
Read also: COVID-19: New Financing Program to Boost Production of Medical Equipment
