Morocco's Covid-19 reproduction rate stands at 1.22, Health Minister reveals

The reproduction rate of Covid-19 in Morocco stands at 1.22, an official from the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

In his presentation of the bimonthly report on the epidemiological situation, the coordinator of the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations at the Ministry of Health, Mouad Mrabet, stressed that the increase in the reproductive rate is explained by the significant rise in the number of Covid-19 cases at the national level.

Morocco registered a record number of cases of contamination daily, totaling 259,951 positive cases until Monday, November 9, with a cumulative incidence rate of 715.8/100,000 inhabitants, he recalled, adding that the number of coronavirus-related deaths climbed to 4,356 deaths, that is a fatality rate of 1.7%, while the recovery rate is around 81.9% with 212,905 people recovered.

On a continental and planetary level, Morocco ranks 32nd worldwide and 2nd in Africa in terms of the number of cases, 36th globally, and 3rd in Africa in terms of the number of deaths. It also ranks 34th at the international level and 2nd at the continental level in terms of number of tests, Mrabet explained.

The bimonthly report of the ministry addressed the salient facts noted until November 9 in connection with the epidemiological situation, including the working session dedicated to the vaccination strategy against Covid-19 and chaired by the King on Monday. During this meeting, the King gave guidelines for the launch, in the coming weeks, of a massive vaccination operation against Covid-19 that should target citizens over 18 years of age, according to a two-injection vaccination schedule.

Priority will be given in particular to front-line staff, in this case, health workers, public authorities, security forces, and national education workers, as well as the elderly and people vulnerable to the virus, before extending it to the rest of the population.

In the same context, Mrabet insisted on the importance of respecting preventive health measures which are likely to curb the spread of the virus, in particular, the wearing of face masks, social distancing, and the use of Wiqaytna application.