Morocco’s Al Hoceima Hospital Overwhelmed as COVID-19 Cases Surge

The number of hospitalized patients has reached the threshold of seventy, a capacity lower than that of the hospital. In a statement to Hespress, Mohamed Nouri, a nurse, also the regional secretary general of the Moroccan Union of Labor (UMT), said that "a large number of cases have been recently recorded over the past two days." Hence the saturation of the Covid-19 department of the hospital. He also mentioned the weakness of the structures and human resources (one doctor and 4 nurses). Mr. Nouri also confirmed that "complaints and claims are circulating and that the logistics are weak".

For his part, Mohamed Yiznassi, the regional representative of the Ministry of Health in the Al Hoceima region, said he had taken note of the situation. "We have taken some executives from the Mohammed V hospital, and the final number of doctors assigned to Imzouren will now be 6," he assured, stressing that management of the file will be "difficult nevertheless, given that the ministry has decided to grant a month’s leave for those who care for patients as part of compensation and motivation".