Rabat – Morocco reported 1,734 new COVID-19 cases to the WHO over the last 24 hours, up from 1,090 one week ago. Morocco saw its newly detected cases rise by 70% over the span of a week, with severe cases more than doubling.
Moroccan intensive care units currently have 1% of their capacity filled with COVID-19 patients. While this shows that Morocco’s healthcare system is capable of coping with the current caseload, last week 0.4% of intensive care beds were needed for COVID-19 patients.
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Despite the sudden uptick in daily COVID-19 cases in Morocco, severe cases have remained limited,with 51 people receiving treatment for severe symptoms. That number has risen from 23 patients with severe symptoms on June 10.
Moroccans, like most citizens around the world, have been eager to leave the COVID-19 crisis behind them and focus on the economic recovery of the country and its people. Still, Morocco’s government continues to maintain its public health state of emergency, in order to allow it to adjust policies in response to the evolution of the national epidemic.
With a vital holiday season for Morocco’s tourism sector ahead, the country is preparing to welcome millions of visitors and diaspora members in the coming month. With cases again on the rise, the vaccination campaign appears to be the only palatable tool to combat the virus without imposing new restrictive measures.
The number of Moroccans who have received at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine has risen from 22.9 million on January 1, to 23.3 million today, while recipients of booster shots have more than doubled, from roughly 3 million at the start of the year, to 6.5 million today.
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While Morocco’s vaccination drive no longer grabs national headlines, it remains the most efficient tool to both ensure a successful economic recovery, while limiting the amounts of deaths related to COVID-19.
Morocco’s rising number of daily cases is a concern, but one that was partly expected after the first Ramadan and Eid al Fitr celebrations without restrictions. With vaccinations freely available, at no cost, Moroccans eager for a successful economic reboot have the tools available to ensure they protect themselves, an important element for a proper economic recovery.
