Rabat – While Morocco’s COVID caseload remains low, new daily cases have again doubled for the second week in a row. The country detected 425 new cases on Friday, up from only 20 at the end of May.
New daily cases had remained in single digits throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan, yet the conclusion of the holy month, and its traditional family gatherings, appear to have fueled a new rise in cases.
Morocco’s public health officials reported only 20 new cases on May 1, at the start of festivities for Eid al Fitr, the conclusion of the month of fasting. Yet the concluding festival’s traditionally large family gatherings and festivities appear to have made a dent in Morocco’s recent lack of COVID-19 cases.
In mid-May, new daily cases had risen above a hundred, with 124 new cases found on May 19. By the end of the month, however, cases had passed the 200 mark, with 205 cases detected on May 28. This Friday, cases had once again more than doubled, with officials detecting 425 new cases within 24 hours.
Morocco’s caseload appears to still be under control however, as only 0.4% of intensive care units are needed for COVID-19 patients. Thousands of tests are still conducted daily, and the country has only 2,208 active COVID-19 infections, most of whom do not require hospitalization.
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In contrast, Germany recorded 28,481 new cases on Friday, France found 25,365, and Italy reported 17,718 new daily cases to the WHO. Africa remains the least-impacted continent, although the WHO has warned that limited testing on the continent means officials have limited capacity to evaluate the true impact of the virus in Africa.
The Americas and the Western Pacific remain the worst-impacted regions, with over a million new cases found in each region over the past week.
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