Full lockdown looms in Morocco as pandemic worsens

Head of the government Saad Eddine El Otmani warned that the return to a full lockdown is on the table as coronavirus cases have surged with 4495 new cases on November 3.

“No one of us, both officials and citizens, wishes a return to a full lockdown due to its economic, social and psychological impacts,” he said, noting, however, that “a return to the lockdown is on the table.”

El Otmani, who was speaking to members of the Parliament’s Upper House, explained that the restrictive measures taken by Morocco have helped it prepare its health system to address the pandemic.

He urged citizens to be cautious of common fall illness, which may offer Covid-19 ripe conditions to strike more severely.

By November 3, total infections rose to 229,565, including 189,909 recoveries and 3900 deaths. The fatality rate was 1.7% and the recovery rate 82%.

However the occupancy rate of Covid-19 beds rose to 37% nationwide, although in some hospitals in areas with higher infection like Marrakech and Casablanca have already hit the limit.