Rabat – Public health data from Morocco’s Ministry of Health shows that the country’s latest wave of COVID-19 infections has declined, with daily cases falling below 100 several times this week.
Morocco’s fourth COVID-19 wave proved to be the least intense, and least deadly since the emergence of the virus in the Kingdom in the spring of 2020. The wave peaked at the end of June, with 4,009 cases recorded on June 29. Since then, cases have steadily fallen, with daily cases falling to 92 this Friday, August 13.
The latest public health data is encouraging, especially as Morocco has welcomed 3.4 million tourists and diaspora members this year. As many of these visitors come from countries with much higher infection rates, some experts had worried the wave could have accelerated.
Despite welcoming a large number of tourists from France (which reported nearly 170,000 new cases last week), and Spain (34,541 cases last week), Morocco’s fourth wave appears to have concluded as the most mild of the country’s four waves since 2020.
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Several countries around the world continue to record high COVID-19 infection rates according to WHO data. Last week, Japan discovered nearly 1.5 million new cases, followed by South Korea (838,829) and the United States, where 728,578 new cases were reported to the WHO.
The United States heavily-privatized healthcare system continues to be one the world’s worst in dealing with COVID-19, despite being the most expensive in the world. Data from the Lowy Institute shows that the US performed the worst of all developing nations, the only countries performing worse being Iran, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
The institute’s data also shows that Morocco’s COVID-19 response outperformed several European countries, ranking above Italy, Belgium, France, Poland, the Netherlands, the UK, and Spain. Morocco’s COVID-19 response was ranked as the world’s 65th best, while the US earned the 96th position. Topping the list are Bhutan, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, and Cyprus, as smaller countries generally outperformed larger nations.
