Concerned patients should sign a document to verify that they will not leave their house during the treatment period.
Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health clarified on Wednesday that asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers may self-isolate at home and follow the necessary recovery plans, while carriers with clinical symptoms should be hospitalized.
Mouad Mrabet, a coordinator at the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations at the Ministry of Health, made the distinction in a statement on August 5. He explained that COVID-19 carriers who wish to recover at home must meet specific medical and health criteria and conditions of isolation.
Mrabet stated that the at-home strategy “only concerns asymptomatic cases that do not represent any clinical sign and people who respond to a number of conditions, such as the absence of risk factors such as old age, chronic diseases, pregnancy, and breastfeeding.”
The strategy also requires “favorable conditions for isolation,” including a “well-ventilated” single room in the carrier’s home.
For an asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier to stay home, they must not be living with vulnerable individuals, he added.
The objective of these conditions is to avoid the infection of people close to asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers.
The at-home strategy also takes into account the COVID-19 carrier’s opinion and willingness to adopt this approach.
Mrabet emphasized that allowing asymptomatic cases to self-isolate at home will enable health facilities to avoid pressure and meet the needs of patients with symptoms, as well as those in critical condition.
“This protocol stems from a number of observations and data in the field which revealed that a large part of asymptomatic cases refuse to be treated in hospitals, since they have no clinical signs, and are doing well. For them, they are not sick and it is very difficult to convince them to receive medical care in the hospital,” Mrabet continued.
Morocco has recently seen a notable surge in COVID-19 cases, recording thousands of new cases on several different days.
Morocco’s COVID-19 fatality rate has also increased, with the health ministry reporting 18 deaths in 24 hours on Wednesday.
The death toll has reached 435 since the outbreak of COVID-19, while the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases stands at 28,500 as of Wednesday.
Recoveries, meanwhile, have reached 19,994. The number of active cases receiving treatment reached 8,071.
Asymptomatic COVID-19 patients who prefer to recover at home should sign a form to verify that they are able to self-isolate and follow recommended treatment plans without leaving their houses, so as to not infect others.
