The Marrakech-Safi region surpassed 1,000 cases of the virus today, recording a total of 1,004.
Rabat – The Ministry of Health in Morocco has confirmed 99 recovered COVID-19 patients in 24 hours, bringing total recoveries in the country to 1,083 and lifting the recovery rate to 86.4%.
Total cases in the country stand at 4,569, including 170 deaths, as of 4 p.m. on May 1. In 24 hours, the ministry announced 146 new cases and one death.
The Casablanca-Settat region remains the most affected by COVID-19 in the country, with 1,157 cases. The Marrakech-Safi region exceeded 1,000 cases today, recording a total of 1,004.
The Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (619 cases), Fez-Meknes (573), Draa-Tafilalet (546), and Rabat-Sale-Kenitra (326) regions continue to show a steady increase in cases.
The Oriental region (175 cases), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (83), Souss-Massa (51), and Guelmim-Oued Noun (29) record a low daily case increase.
Meanwhile, the southern regions of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra (four) and Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab (two) have not recorded any new cases since early April.
Moroccan health authorities continue to boost their testing frequency, which currently stands at over 1,500 COVID-19 tests per day. Since the start of the outbreak on March 2, Moroccan health authorities performed a total of 37,006 tests, including 32,437 that came back negative.
Daily monitoring of people who made contact with COVID-19 patients remains the most effective method to detect new cases. In the past 24 hours, monitoring helped detect 108 or 74% of the new COVID-19 cases.
The method also allows early detection of COVID-19 cases, even before symptoms appear. The early detection of cases has helped curb the spread of the pandemic and significantly reduced the virus’s “R0” factor in Morocco.
R0 is a medical and mathematical term that health officials use in determining how infectious a virus is and the average rate of virus transmission from a single infected person.
The factor currently fluctuates between 1.04 and 1.07, nearing closer to 1.
On April 30, Morocco’s Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb said the R0 must be less than 1 for over two weeks before the country can safely lift the lockdown.
Read also: Minister: Morocco to Stay in Lockdown Until Transmission Rate Decreases
