The COVID-19 crisis has caused millions of Moroccan citizens and residents to lose their jobs.
Rabat – A total of 5.1 million families have received financial aid from Morocco’s Special Fund for the Management and Response to COVID-19, Minister of Interior Abdelouafi Laftit announced on Wednesday, April 29, during a meeting at the House of Representatives.
The fund has so far supported 800,000 employees registered to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS), 2.3 million families with the Medical Assistance Plan (RAMED), as well as two million households without any insurance.
Morocco’s Economic Monitoring Committee (CVE), created to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Moroccan economy and society, announced in March that Moroccans who lost their jobs due to the pandemic will receive monthly stipends ranging from MAD 800 ($80) to MAD 2,000 ($200), in addition to medical coverage.
After presenting the figures, Laftit stressed that Moroccan citizens must be “deeply convinced of their common destiny” to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
The minister assured citizens that since the start of the outbreak on March 2, the Moroccan government created local monitoring units in every region, in order to quickly implement proactive measures and curb the spread of COVID-19.
Laftit cited the distribution of medical equipment and drugs to all Moroccan hospitals, the setting up of field hospitals to host COVID-19 patients, and the guarantee of a steady supply of essential products to Moroccan markets.
The senior official also recalled the regulations enforcing wearing medical masks in public, revealing that Moroccan production units have so far produced over 110 million masks.
In a discussion about the mobile application developed by the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) to track citizens’ movements amid the state of emergency, Laftit assured that the application is “100% temporary.”
The application also covers the privacy of personal information and received the approval of the National Control Committee for the Protection of Personal Data (CNDP).
Laftit concluded by saying that his department is studying all the possible scenarios for the evolution of the COVID-19 situation in Morocco to come up with the optimal strategies for lifting the state of emergency.