Casablanca Neighborhoods Flout COVID-19 Rules, Raising Infection Concerns

The relaxation of the population in the face of the protection rules and measures imposed since last March, following the appearance of the first case of coronavirus in Morocco, is barely believable. In the souks, women and men do their shopping normally without worrying about the rule of social distancing. Life goes on without any fear of the coronavirus which, however, is claiming victims in this city. In a market on Goulmina Street, in the Bourgogne neighborhood, one can see around a vegetable vendor, five women, almost glued to each other, "choosing their vegetables and taking the time to bargain the price quietly. And especially to make comments on the rise in prices of certain fruits and vegetables and on the lack of rain and the compromise of the agricultural season".

When asked about confinement and the protection rules to be observed, La vie Eco reports that "the answers are amazing, ranging from pure and simple unconsciousness of the risk taken, to a disconcerting great fatalism, passing through the stress, fatigue and weariness induced by the constraints of confinement and compliance with the protection rules".

We meet women who are content with a scarf or a headscarf instead of a mask. "The main thing is to hide your nose and mouth!" replies a woman in her sixties, wearing a homemade mask. "Why do the other masks, in fabric, made in factories have something special? They are just wrapped in plastic, that’s all!" And the promiscuity? "We can’t do otherwise; it’s the market. We can’t have it to ourselves to do our shopping! And besides, we don’t have time; we have to buy what we need and go back to cook. It’s Ramadan; there are tons of things to prepare!" she says.

In this souk, users think it’s better to get used to living with the coronavirus, which, in view of the news, won’t be going away anytime soon. They think we shouldn’t stop living while waiting. The regular monitoring of the epidemiological situation as well as the statistics announced daily on television do not seem to convince and apparently have no impact on the residents of this neighborhood. They believe that "all this is in the hands of Allah. If we are to get sick, well we will, despite all these precautions".