Rabat – With Morocco’s COVID-19 cases on the rise in recent weeks, the country’s Ministry of Health has called on Moroccans to go back to wearing protective masks in crowded and enclosed spaces.
Speaking at the monthly COVID-19 press conference, Mouad Mrabet, the coordinator of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection’s National Center for Public Emergency Operations, said that Morocco’s current epidemiological situation has moved from the “weak green” alert level to the “medium orange” level, especially in major cities.
Mrabet explained that the positivity rate has gradually increased for the fourth week in a row, rising from 0.6% to 5% last week. Morocco recorded 607 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
He added that the number of cases admitted to intensive care remains low, explaining that it does not exceed 20 new cases per week. In the past month, Morocco’s intensive case units received 62 patients, while 47 patients left after their health condition improved.
COVID-related deaths remain low, with 10 deaths recorded in the past four weeks, Mrabet indicated.
The health official also commented on Morocco’s national vaccination campaign, saying that the coverage rate of the booster dose has reached 17.6% of the population.
Even though the number of cases in critical condition remains low, Mrabet said, the epidemiological situation of COVID-19 in Morocco is worrying.
He called on citizens, especially elders and people with chronic diseases, to receive the third dose of the vaccine to strengthen their immune system.
Morocco had maintained a stable epidemiological situation and a decrease in COVID- related deaths for around three months, with a trend of slow and minimal spread of the virus.
But in mid-May, two weeks following the end of the holy month of Ramadan, new daily cases started rising above a hundred.
