Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Health announced today that the third wave of COVID-19 is on a downward trend, with a reproduction rate (R0) standing at 0.85 as of Sunday, January 30.
Mouad Mrabet, the coordinator of the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations at the ministry of health, explained that the current wave was marked by a strong dominance of the Omicron variant (98% of cases).
He said the wave saw a 34% drop in contaminations over the past week, after five weeks of continuous increase.
But Mrabet warned that the spread of the virus remains high despite the significant drop. He said that the spread of the contaminations could reach an average level from next week.
The weekly evolution of Morocco’s COVID positivity rate moved from 24.4% to 21.8% during the past week.
Admissions in intensive care are also increasing substantially, with a 19% increase last week.
Mrabet lamented the significant increase in death cases estimated at +47.4%, and he warned that cases of COVID-caused death will peak during the course of this week.
The ministry added that out of a total of 230 cases of death, the vaccination status of 85.3% of deceased patients did not comply with health preventive measures in force.
The data is based on statistics collected between January 24-31.
Recalling the need to get vaccinated and continue adhering to preventive pressures, the ministry warned citizens that the situation continues to be critical due to the spread of the virus.
In addition, the ministry repeatedly emphasized the importance of booster doses in contributing to the strengthening of immunity, especially for the elderly and other at-risk categories.
On February 1, Morocco reported 35 deaths, bringing the death toll to 15,435.
The total number of cases reached 1,135,796, including 1,083,477 recoveries, according to the ministry of health, while active cases now stand at 36,884.
