COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco


The COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Morocco on 2 March 2020, when the first case COVID-19 case was confirmed in Casablanca. It involved a Moroccan expatriate residing in Bergamo, Italy who arrived from Italy on 27 February. A second case was confirmed later that same day involving an 89-year-old woman Moroccan residing in Italy who had returned to Morocco on 25 February from Bologna, Italy.As the outbreak widened in Morocco, in mid-March the Government closed schools and suspended international passenger flights.
, there have been 10,907 confirmed cases, of which 8,468 have recovered and 216 have died.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.

Timeline

First confirmed cases

After the two cases confirmed on 2 March 2020, a third case was confirmed on 10 March 2020, a French tourist who arrived in Marrakesh. On the same day, one of the two first cases, a woman aged 89, died. On 11 March 2020, it was announced that the wife and daughter of the French tourist also tested positive, bringing the total cases to 5. That same day, a sixth case was declared in a woman in her sixties that came from France and that presented respiratory troubles on 7 March. On 13 March 2020, two cases were confirmed: a 39-year-old Moroccan man who had returned from Spain and a 64-year-old French woman. The recovery of patient 0 was reported by the Ministry of Health the same day.

Subsequent cases

On 14 March 2020, ten cases were confirmed, including the Moroccan minister Abdelkader Aamara, bringing the total to 18.
On 15 March 2020, 10 new cases were confirmed to have the virus, bringing the total number of cases to 28.
On 16 March 2020, nine cases were confirmed, bringing the total of cases to 37.
On 17 March 2020, the second death from the virus was confirmed while a Moroccan man who came from France tested positive. The same day, six new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 44.
On 18 March 2020, ten cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 54.
On 19 March 2020, a second recovery was reported and nine new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 63.
On 20 March, a third death was reported and sixteen new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 79.
On 21 March 2020 at 00:30, seven new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 86. The same day at 19:30, a third recovery was reported and ten more cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 96. The third recovery that was reported concerns the 64-year-old French-Senegalese national, who was the sixth recorded case in Morocco.
On 22 March 2020 at 10:00, eight new cases were confirmed, with four additional cases were confirmed at 12:30 pm and another case at 14:30, bringing the total of positive cases to 109. The same day at 20:30, the fourth death from the virus was reported and six more cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 115.
On 23 March 2020 at 11:00, seven new cases were confirmed, twelve more cases were confirmed at 12:30, nine additional cases were confirmed and two new recoveries were reported at 18:00, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 143.
On 24 March 2020 at 18:00, the Ministry of health confirmed a new death bringing the total to 5, a 76-year-old man who returned from the Netherlands and had a chronic illness which weakened his immunity. The remission of an 80-year-old woman in Fquih Ben Salah was confirmed, bringing the total number of recoveries to 6. Twenty-seven new cases were confirmed, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 170.
On 25 March 2020, the Ministry of health confirmed a new death bringing the total to 6, a 65 years old person who suffered from chronic illnesses. The recovery of a 69 years old person was confirmed, bringing the total number of recoveries to 7. 55 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total of positive cases to 225.
On 26 March 2020, the Ministry of health confirmed four new deaths bringing the total to 10. A new recovery was confirmed, bringing the total number of recoveries to 8. 50 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total of positive cases to 275.
On 27 March 2020 at 18:00, the Ministry of health confirmed eleven new deaths bringing the total to 21. Three new recoveries were confirmed, bringing the total number of recoveries to 11. 58 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total of positive cases to 333. The same day at 21:00, two additional deaths were reported and twelve new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 345.
On 28 March 2020 at 8:00, 13 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total of positive cases to 358. The same day at 18:00, the Ministry of health reported the number of confirmed cases as 359 and a new death was confirmed, bringing the total number of deaths to 24. Thirty-one more cases and one death were confirmed at 21:00, bringing the total up to 390 and 25, respectively. At 23:00, twelve new cases and a recovery were confirmed, bringing the total up to 402 and 12, respectively.
On 29 March 2020 at 8:00, 35 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 437 and 26, respectively. The same day at 13:00, thirteen new cases were confirmed, bringing the total of positive cases to 450. At 18:00, thirteen additional cases were confirmed, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 463. At 21:00, the Ministry of health confirmed sixteen new positive cases, bringing the total to 479
On 30 March 2020 at 8:00, 37 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 516 and 27, respectively. The same day at 13:00, two deaths and one recovery were reported, bringing the total to 29 and 14, respectively. The same day at 18:00, the Ministry of health reported the number of confirmed cases as 534. The number of deaths and recoveries was confirmed as 33 and 14, respectively.
On 31 March 2020 at 8:00, 40 new cases were recorded, bringing the total cases up to 574. The same day at 18:00, 28 new cases, three deaths and 10 recoveries were reported, the Ministry of health reported the number of confirmed cases as 602, the number of deaths as 36 and the number of recoveries 24. At 21:00, 15 new cases were reported making the total number of cases 617.
On 1 April 2020 at 8:00, 21 new cases were confirmed. The same day at 13:00, one death and two recoveries were reported, the total number of deaths and recoveries was confirmed as 37 and 26, respectively. At 18:00, 4 additional new cases were reported. At 21:00, 12 more new cases, two deaths and three recoveries were confirmed bringing the total number of cases to 654.
On 2 April 2020 at 8:00, 22 new cases were confirmed. The same day at 13:00, one death was reported, the minister of health confirmed the number of deaths and recoveries as 40 and 29, respectively. At 18:00, 4 additional deaths, 1 recovery, 15 new cases were reported. At 21:00, 17 more new cases and one recovery were confirmed bringing the total number of cases to 708, the total number of deaths to 44 and the total number of recoveries to 31.
On 3 April 2020 at 8:00, 44 new cases, 4 recoveries and 3 deaths were reported. At 11:00, 15 additional recoveries were reported. At 18:00, 3 deaths, 7 recovery and 26 new cases were reported. At 22:00, 30 more new cases, one recovery and one death were confirmed bringing the total number of cases to 791, total number of deaths to 48, total number of recoveries to 57.
There were 3,806 new cases in April, raising the total number of cases to 4,423. The death toll rose to 170. The number of recovered patients increased to 984, leaving 3,269 active cases at the end of the month.
In May there were 3,384 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 7,807. The death toll rose by 35 to 205. The number of recovered patients increased to 5,459. There were 2,143 active cases at the end of the month.
On 24 June 2020 at 10:00, 349 new cases and 19 recoveries were reported, bringing the total number of cases and recoveries to 10,693 and 8426, respectively. The same day at 17:00, the Ministry of health reported the number of confirmed cases as 10,907 and the number of recoveries as 8468.
There were 4,726 new cases in June, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12,533. The death toll rose by 23 to 228. The number of recovered patients increased to 8,920. There were 3,385 active cases at the end of the month.

Responses

Transportation

On 13 March 2020 the Government of Morocco announced they were suspending all passenger flights and ferry crossings to and from Spain, Algeria and France until future notice.
On 14 March 2020, the Government announced it was suspending flights with an additional 25 countries. By that date, flights had been suspended to/from China, Spain, Italy, France and Algeria. Subsequently, air travel was to cease shortly between Morocco and Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Mauritania, Netherlands, Niger, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Senegal, Switzerland, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE.
On 15 March 2020, the Government suspended all international flights, and did not announce an expected date for international flights to resume.

Education

On 13 March, the government decided to shut down all schools, effective March 16 until further notice. Classes were to be continued either online or through TV, with the use of the SNRT channels for levels of a certain importance, such as the Baccalaureate level.
On 11 April, the Ministry of Education announced that tests and exams will take place normally, but later in the year, and admittance to next levels will be based on the same criteria as before, to ensure equity in grades and notes, instead of admitting students based on their grades of the previous semester.
On 12 May, the Ministry of Education announced that tests and exams are cancelled for primary and secondary education, while Bac exam will be held in July and first year of Bac will be held in September. Students aren't going back to school until September 2020.

State of medical emergency

Morocco declared a state of medical emergency on 19 March 2020, to take effect on 20 March 2020 at 6:00 pm local time and to remain in effect until April 20, 2020 with possibility to extend for a longer period. This directive requires the authorization of local state officials for citizens to leave their homes, while making exceptions for workers at supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, gas stations, medical clinics, telecommunications companies, and essential freelance jobs. A direct 24-hour hotline was set up to "reinforce direct communication and urge vigilance to fight the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and safeguard the health of citizens." In April, 2020, the government pardoned 5,654 prisoners, and it put forward procedures to protect inmates from the COVID-19 outbreak.
On 18 April, the Moroccan government declared the extension of the state of emergency until 20 May. According to an article published in Le Desk on April 21, the Moroccan government outsourced its quarantine strategy to the Boston Consulting Group.
On 18 May, the Moroccan government declared the extension of the state of emergency for another three weeks, until 10 June.
On 9 June, the government announced a plan to split Morocco in to two main zones:
Note that commercial activities such as cafés, or any sort of event are still prohibited in both zones.

Emergency Fund

On 15 March, King Mohammed VI announced the creation of an emergency fund in order to upgrade health infrastructure and support the worst affected economic sectors. The fund has a volume of 10 billion dirham.

Fighting disinformation

Some critics of the government have been arrested for allegedly spreading fake news on coronavirus.

Ramadan

The government announced that being outside shelter between the hours of 7 pm and 5 am during the Holy Month of Ramadan is strictly forbidden for any reason except for special cases, such as logistics.

Others