Morocco’s Covid ICU Occupancy Doubles as Experts Urge Vaccination

From August 1 to 2, 284 people were admitted to intensive care units. Since the beginning of the health crisis, severe or critical cases have reached 1,115 people, including 664 under artificial respiration and 41 intubated or under non-invasive ventilation. But in the last 24 hours, the speed at which serious cases are piling up is worrying, reports snrtnews.com.

"In recent weeks, Morocco has recorded an alarming increase in positive cases but also in cases admitted to intensive care units. I would like to specify that several hospitals have had to empty services to accommodate the new infected people," explains Moulay Tahar Alaoui, president of the Vaccination Technical Committee.

For Ismail Labib, an intensive care physician at the Tangier University Hospital, the vaccination campaign has spared Morocco from managing a much more critical situation than the current one, marked by a surge in positive and serious cases. "We avoided the worst! The vaccination campaign has reduced the number of people admitted to intensive care units. Severe cases mainly concern unvaccinated people."

He adds that "the capacity of the intensive care services remains sufficient for the moment. But with the increase in cases, we risk running out of beds."