Please note: Total fatality number is not correct. It should read 658
Morocco’s COVID-19 case count continues to climb. The Ministry of Health has confirmed 1,472 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing Morocco’s total to 42,489 as of Sunday, August 16.
The ministry also reported 26 new deaths and 778 new recoveries on Sunday. The death toll is now 658 and Morocco has a 1.55% COVID-19 fatality rate. Meanwhile, total recoveries stand at 29,344, with a 69.06% recovery rate.
The number of COVID-19 patients receiving treatment in Moroccan hospitals stands at 12,487, with 668 new in the past 24 hours.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic in Morocco, Moroccan laboratories have excluded 1,563,124 cases of the virus through testing. In the past 24 hours, laboratories delivered 20,907 negative results.
The Casablanca-Settat region hosts the majority of Morocco’s COVID-19 cases (11,748), followed by Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (8,438), Marrakech-Safi (6,505), and Rabat-Sale-Kenitra (3,909).
Draa-Tafilalet (1,402), Beni Mellal-Khenifra (1,224), Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra (905), and the Oriental region (752) also have significant COVID-19 case counts.
Souss-Massa (357), Dakhla-Oued Eddahab (195), and Guelmim-Oued Noun (195) have the lowest case counts in Morocco.
Morocco has reported more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day since August 11. The daily case rate reached a new high on Saturday, with the health ministry reporting 1,776 cases in 24 hours.
Moroccan health professionals and government officials have expressed concern with the development of the epidemiological situation in the country.
During a recent videoconference, a group of Moroccan health experts said the government’s “rushed” lifting of strict measures is the main reason behind the worrying evolution of COVID-19 in the country. They argued that the decision to “go back to normal life” and reopen the country and the national economy has proven “hasty and misguided.”
Meziane Bellafkih, the head of the epidemiology department at the Ministry of Health, pointed out the flaws in the COVID-19 testing system. He said by the time people receive their COVID-19 test results, many are already in an advanced stage of infection. “It is unacceptable to wait four days to get tested and four more days to get your results,” he stressed.
The experts also outlined the increasing fatality rates, revealing that 85% of COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units have died. El Houssein Baro, a department head at the Ibn Rochd Hospital in Casablanca, said that most cases admitted to the hospital are “already in a desperate situation” and at least 23% die immediately after hospitalization.
Morocco’s health professionals believe the country must speed up test results and contact-tracing in order to bring the pandemic under control.
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