Morocco Sees Surge in COVID-19 Cases, Major Cities at ’Intermediate Orange’ Level

After three months of respite, Morocco is returning to the much-dreaded scenario. Infection cases are on the rise again in major cities and this coincides with the launch of the 2022 Marhaba operation. In his presentation of the monthly assessment of the epidemiological situation, the coordinator of the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations of the Ministry of Health, Mouad Merabet, indicated that the spread of the virus has gone from the low green level to the intermediate orange level, particularly in major cities.

In addition, the positivity rate has also increased, going from 0.6% to 5% in the past week. The reproduction index has also evolved to reach 1.19. The number of admissions to intensive care services has also seen a significant increase, according to Dr. Merabet. However, he points out that the number remains low and does not currently exceed 20 new cases per week, or less than 1 per 100,000 people.

In his presentation, the specialist specified that the Omicron variant is still dominant with BA.2 and the beginning of the spread of BA.5. He also reported the low presence of other sub-variants. Regarding the national vaccination campaign, the booster dose coverage rate is now 17.6%, with a continuity rate of 27.6%.

For Dr. Mouad Merabet, now is the time to launch a new call to everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible, in order to cope with the rapid progression of new variants. He did not fail to recall the hygiene measures and barrier gestures to be adopted to limit the transmission of the virus.