Health statistics released May 24 confirm HCP's assertion, reading that 86% of the COVID-19 infections in Morocco come from the country’s five densest cities.
Rabat – Morocco’s High Commission for Planning (HCP) has declared that the probability of COVID-19 spreading is greater in large cities due to housing density and overcrowding.
HCP issued the announcement as part of a note titled “Geo-demographic approach to the major risks of exposure to coronavirus transmission.”
In the document, the commission points to old Medinas, low-income housing developments, lower middle-income neighborhoods, and shanty towns as being exposed to a high risk of contamination in terms of density and overcrowding.
Health statistics released May 26 confirm HCP’s assertion, reading that 86% of the COVID-19 infections in Morocco, or 7,577 cases, come from the five most densely populated cities in the country.
The region of Casablanca-Settat represents 32.6% of COVID-19 cases, followed by Marrakech-Safi (17.6%), Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (13.8%), (Fez-Meknes) 13.2%, and Rabat-Sale-Kenitra (9.2%).
These areas also host the highest number of industrial sector workers in Morocco, representing 12% of all workers in the five regions, according to HCP.
Living in a large Moroccan city is not the only factor that exposes citizens to the risk of COVID-19 infection. Failure to comply with the preventive public health measures also adds to the risk, HCP revealed.
According to a study that HCP issued earlier this month, only one-third of Moroccan households (33%) declared having protective face masks in sufficient quantities. Approximately 41% said the number of masks they were able to obtain is insufficient, while 27% do not have any.
Approximately half of Moroccan families (51%) reported they do not have any disinfectants in their possession, or have them in insufficient quantities, with their share ranging from 43% in cities to 70% in rural areas.
HCP conducted the study between April 14 and 23, involving 2,350 families from various social classes of the Moroccan population, both urban and rural.
