Morocco’s COVID-19 Cases Surge, Doctors Urge Caution as ICU Beds Fill

In response to this increase in new infections, Dr. Mohamed Mounir Mikou has expressed the medical community’s concern. According to the member of the Moroccan Society of Anesthesiology, Analgesia and Resuscitation, only 50 intensive care beds are currently occupied by patients in difficult situations, "but the surge in infections linked to professional outbreaks is intriguing us," he specified.

According to the doctor, the difficult cases occupy 7% of the intensive care bed capacity. In his view, the rapid evolution of new cases is leading the medical community to be increasingly vigilant and agile. He did not fail to warn. "... Our hospitals could not withstand cascading infections." In Tangier, for example, we have 18 patients in intensive care, while the city of the Strait has only 12 intensive care beds," he alerted.

To prevent any surge in cases, he has called, like the Ministries of the Interior, Health, Tourism, Industry, and Higher Education, for compliance with social distancing and barrier measures, "because we are increasingly exposed to a virus that has certainly lost its virulence, but remains unpredictable and extremely contagious." Note that Morocco has recorded in recent days two deaths aged 28 and 35 who did not previously suffer from any chronic illness. Faced with this situation, efforts must be redoubled, the strictest health measures must be ensured, and agility must be maintained."

Acknowledging the government’s efforts to increase the number of PCR tests, Dr. Mounir Mikou also welcomed its ambition to spread the sites of laboratories able to perform these tests across the 12 regions of the Kingdom. He believes that this effort should accompany the deconfinement period, in order to try to limit the spread of the virus in the kingdom. He also proposed to further multiply the Covid-19 analysis laboratories, in order to reduce the number of tests to be carried out daily in each laboratory.