Morocco Braces for Potential Omicron Surge as COVID-19 Cases Rise

Faced with this situation, the specialist Kamal Merhoum Filali, head of the infectious diseases department at the Ibn Rochd University Hospital, estimated that "the epidemiological situation is stable, but we have been recording an increase in cases of contamination for a few days. This development is likely to develop with the arrival of winter, the presence of Delta but also with Omicron which is spreading very quickly."

"This progression of cases can be accentuated by the relaxation of the population, the non-respect of barrier gestures and the slowdown in the vaccination campaign," she added.

In the same vein, Mouad Mrabet, coordinator of the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations of the Ministry of Health, declared: "We are facing two critical weeks. If the vaccination campaign does not resume and if the population does not respect the barrier measures, the virus will find a favorable ground to develop. Thus, we will face a new wave that is likely to be virulent," recalling that in the event of non-compliance with barrier gestures, the government will be led to strengthen the restrictive measures as has been done in several European countries.

On the other hand, according to him, Omicron will certainly be frequent in the coming days but not dominant. The specialist mentioned the figures on an international scale, specifying that the variant will become more and more frequent but not dominant enough in all countries of the world.

Currently, "this variant represents 37% in the United Kingdom and 20% in the United States, only, the probability that it will take over is there," he noted, adding that "as soon as the recording of the 1st case of Omicron in Morocco, we have stated that its spread was highly likely but not to the point of becoming dominant within 3 weeks".