El Othmani Calls on Moroccans to Learn to Live With COVID-19 for a Year

Rabat – Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani has called on Moroccans to learn to live with the COVID-19 pandemic and given indications of what official guidelines will be after the lockdown.

In a teleconference on Thursday, May 21, El Othmani told leaders of political parties the pandemic will not vanish all at once. COVID-19 may be a reality for some time, and the official said Morocco should be able to coexist with the crisis for one year or even 18 months.

“Citizens must prepare to live with it in the coming months,” El Othmani emphasized.

“This is what experts said,” he said. Indicating life after the lockdown, El Othmani added that Morocco will continue to follow such preventive measures as the use of protective equipment, social distancing, and the use of face masks in public.

“We should coexist with it. It should be part of our life and future.  We still have no data when this will be over. New hotspots emerged today unexpectedly, like Dakhla,” El Othmani said.

The official reminded party leaders that Morocco is in a fierce battle now against the pandemic.

Because of the government’s quick decisions, “We avoided 6,000 COVID-19 cases and 200 deaths a day,” he said.

Speaking on the COVID-19 crisis, the head of government said Morocco was able to survive the challenges and circumstances of the pandemic.

El Othmani emphasized Morocco’s decision to locally produce protective masks, which the country now exports to several European countries.

He explained that in addition to production units, cooperatives have also been involved in the national mask-producing campaign.

Spanish news outlet EFE reported that 16 companies in Morocco export reusable protective equipment to Spain, France, Italy, and Germany.

Morocco has 73 industrial units and cooperatives involved in the campaign.

Morocco’s textile companies produce 10 million masks a day. Companies can export half of the masks they produce if the national demand is met.