COVID-19 Outbreak Hits Moroccan Prison: Over 60 Cases Reported in Ouarzazate

Sixty employees and six inmates tested positive for covid-19 in the Ouarzazate prison. These cases add to the 11 already reported in a Marrakech prison and those tested positive in Ksar Kébir. In a statement, the General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) announced "screening tests for all inmates of the institution".

The cases of contamination in the country’s prisons are now "limited" thanks to the "preventive measures" adopted. We must also count on the release, in early April, of more than 5,654 inmates, in order to reduce the risks of spread in prisons. Other countries in the region have followed Morocco’s example, by allowing the decongestion of prisons to ward off any risk of contamination.

Morocco has 35 million inhabitants; and since the beginning of the pandemic, 3,186 cases of contamination have been officially recorded, including 144 deaths and 359 recoveries. Before reaching such a result, the authorities had to impose drastic measures including confinement, mandatory wearing of masks, border closures and suspension of air links.