Morocco Braces for Deadly Winter as COVID-19 Cases Surge, Hospitals Near Capacity

The President of the National Federation of Health, who confided in the 2M channel, noted that the epidemiological situation in Morocco is very worrying, especially at the level of the Casablanca-Settat region. A crucial fact that motivated the competent authorities to implement restrictive measures is the occupancy rate at the university hospital centers in the metropolis, which has reached 90%, he points out.

Addressing the issue of the imminence of the winter season, Afif Moulay Saïd did not hide his concern. This stems from the fact that the seasonal flu, whose symptoms resemble those of Covid-19, occurs at the same time. "Seasonal flu affects several million people around the world, and causes between 100,000 and 300,000 deaths per year in the world alone. If it is associated with Covid-19, it will complicate things, especially since it will accelerate the saturation of hospitals," he observes. To manage this difficult situation, the Ministry of Health has in anticipation increased the doses of the flu vaccine by 40%, or 650,000 doses that will be intended for health personnel and vulnerable people, to be delivered on medical prescription, to be sure to prioritize the people who need it most.

To succeed in bending the curve again, Afif Moulay Said proposes to limit contacts between people. "The fewer these contacts, the less chance of infecting others or being infected," he points out, insisting on strict compliance with barrier gestures, namely wearing the mask correctly, washing hands with soap and water for 30 seconds and respecting physical distancing.

Regarding the probability of a generalized re-containment, the president of the National Federation of Health stated that this solution is conceivable by the authorities if they realize that the battery of restrictive measures put in place in many regions of the kingdom to curb the spread of the pandemic have not been respected.

In conclusion, Afif Moulay Said affirmed that it is the vaccine that will sound the death knell of this pandemic, urgently calling on citizens to respect the barrier gestures to limit the spread of the virus. "Clinical trials are progressing well in Morocco and without any severe side effects, for the moment. We hope the vaccine will be available by December," he mentions.