According to the High Commission for Planning (HCP), in its third survey related to the impacts of Covid-19 on business activities, conducted from December 22 to 30, 40% of Moroccan companies have indicated that they no longer have cash reserves for the second half of 2020.
The first batches of the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm’s vaccine arrived in Morocco on Wednesday. The AT3087 Royal Air Maroc flight, dispatched on Monday to transport them, landed at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca.
Morocco is preparing to vaccinate its population as early as this week. A second lockdown could be avoided once 70% of the population is vaccinated, said Dr. Aziz Bousfiha, professor of pediatrics specialized in genetic susceptibility to infections and inflammations at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in Casablanca.
The forecasts of Moroccan textile industrialists for the 2021 financial year will suffer from the new variants of the coronavirus. Given their ravages in Europe, their main market, the prospects are not good for the coming months.
Contrary to the AstraZeneca vaccine, Morocco should receive on Wednesday, January 27, 500,000 doses of the vaccine from the Chinese laboratory Sinopham. They should allow the vaccination of 250,000 people (i.e. two doses per person at 21 days apart compared to 28 days for the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca).
Among the sectors hit very hard by the current crisis in Morocco, and whose employees are in great difficulty, there is the traditional hammam, public shower and spa sector, which according to professionals, is neglected by the government. In a petition addressed to the Prime Minister, they demand urgent measures for the reopening of their establishments.
The Ministry of Economy, Finance and Administrative Reform indicated that at the end of December 2020, the Amended Finance Act (LFR) revealed a budget deficit of 82.4 billion dirhams (MMDH) or 7.6% of GDP. This despite a number of uncertainties and in compliance with the State’s commitments under the strategy to support social and economic sectors and post-Covid recovery.
Heavily impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, food service professionals want to resume their activities quickly. They have proposed to the government to prioritize employees in their sectors during the vaccination campaign.
A network of fake Covid-19 test trafficking has been dismantled in an unauthorized laboratory in Sidi Kacem. Several people have been arrested and placed in pre-trial detention.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just warned the international community of the danger of the new coronavirus detected in his country. He stated on Friday that the new coronavirus found in the United Kingdom and in many other countries, including Morocco, would be more deadly.
The launch date of the national vaccination campaign in Morocco is known. It will start next week, probably after the delivery of the Chinese vaccine doses, scheduled for January 27, 2021.
Morocco has managed to take a big lead over major African countries by receiving its first doses of AstraZeneca. The kingdom thus becomes the first country on the continent to receive the anti-Covid-19 vaccine.