Moroccan Army Deploys Medical Resources to Bolster COVID-19 Response

According to Colonel Major Zbir El Mehdi, chief medical officer of the Rabat military hospital, medical teams have been sent as reinforcements to ensure proper care in order to take stock, improve equipment and strengthen the public health workforce.

In this perspective, the military hospitals have been reorganized to accommodate the maximum number of patients. For the chief medical officer, two field structures have been deployed in the Casablanca region; medical teams including doctors and nurses have also been sent to 45 facilities across the country to "ensure proper care" for patients.

According to him, the situation is under control and the Rabat military hospital currently hosts 30 hospitalized patients out of 144 available beds and 30 in isolation. This model hospital is considered the most modern medical facility in the country. Several African heads of state have come to be treated there in the past, he specifies. More than 70% of its capacity is now dedicated to the new coronavirus, with a complete reorganization of its reception circuits.

According to figures published for the media, the virology and infectious diseases center of this hospital facility is entirely dedicated to the screening of the covid-19 disease, with more than 6,000 tests carried out since the mobilization decreed by the king. For now, the military personnel dedicated to the pandemic are not known, but according to estimates, the Moroccan army has more than 170,000 active personnel.