Rabat – King Mohammed VI of Morocco has ordered the Ministry of Interior to distribute free reusable protective face masks for needy communities in Morocco.
The royal move comes with the surge in COVID-19 cases that Morocco has witnessed recently. The country recorded 24,322 cases in July alone, over half of the 44,803 infections Morocco has confirmed since the virus emerged in March.
The operation shall first cover regions with a major rise in the number of COVID-19 infections.
These include Casablanca-Settat, Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Marrakech-Safi, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, and Fez-Meknes, sources told Le 360.
In addition, disadvantaged neighborhoods in the city of Sale will also benefit from free reusable face masks.
Read also: King Mohammed VI Leads by Example, Demonstrates Importance of Face Masks
The washable free face masks are reusable up to 40 times.
On August 7, the Moroccan Parliament adopted a bill to complement Decree-Law 2.20.292 relating to the obligation of wearing face masks in public.
The new text implements a fixed MAD 300 ($32) fine immediately for those not wearing masks in public to avoid trial proceedings, explained interior minister Abdelouafi Laftit.
With Moroccan factories covering the domestic needs of face masks, textile companies took on exportation to help fulfill the need of European markets that had been suffering a sharp deficit in face masks.
Between May 21, when the Ministry of Industry authorized the export of face masks, and the first week of June, Morocco exported over 18.5 million face masks to 11 countries on several continents.
Over 69 companies produced the face masks for export.
King Mohammed VI has taken several initiatives to curb the spread of COVID-19 domestically, perhaps most notably with the creation of the Special Fund for the Management and Response to COVID-19 on March 15, with an initial sum of $1 billion.
The fund reached MAD 33.7 billion ($3.6 billion) in value by the end of July, according to the General Treasury of the Kingdom (TGR), noting that expenses had amounted to MAD 24.7 billion ($2.6 billion).
