Morocco Approves Home Care Protocol for Mild COVID-19 Cases

The application of this protocol and the resulting procedures as well as the methods of care to be provided to virus carriers are under discussion. In this regard, a decision has been made and validated by the supervisory minister.

This protocol was submitted at a critical moment in the epidemiological situation of the kingdom with constantly increasing coronavirus cases. This exponential increase in the number of patients is putting strong pressure on hospital facilities. This decision should relieve the medical staff, who have been on the front line for some 4 months. It comes just as the Ministry of Health has decided to cancel the leave of the medical staff.

This care protocol has already been experimented with in several countries around the world and on the recommendation of the WHO. It proposes the withdrawal of stable, mild cases from hospital facilities and their management at home with, of course, a battery of measures to be respected (isolation of the patient, liaison with a health professional, family briefed, etc.).

This explosion of Covid-19 cases is impacting the occupancy rate of hospitals in Morocco. Regarding the cases in Casablanca-Settat, the occupancy rate was 83.77% during the month of July. These data relate to the field hospital set up at the Casablanca International Exhibition (Fair), that of Benslimane (military) and the hospital of El Jadida. As for the metropolis and its region, they have a total capacity of 1,929 beds, of which 1,616 beds were occupied and therefore they were on the verge of saturation.