Coronavirus : Preventive measures are proving to be effective, Health Minister Says

Preventive measures taken by Morocco are proving effective at this stage in the fight against the new coronavirus whose evolution remains «unpredictable», said, Friday in Rabat, Health minister, Khalid Ait Taleb.

During a meeting with members of the social sectors committee at the House of Representatives, convened to examine the situation in the Kingdom, the minister stressed that the national steering committee set up for this purpose is closely monitoring developments related to the disease «which remains under control».

Ait Taleb assured that the committee is monitoring the situation, whether in terms of detecting or dealing with suspicious cases, or following up on the two confirmed cases out of a total of fifty possible ones identified so far.

The ministry of Health through the Directorate of Epidemiology and Disease Control has extensive experience in monitoring and surveillance of similar epidemics such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Ebola, noted the minister, who expects the virus to lose ground as temperatures rise as spring approaches.

He also called for compliance with the rules established by the ministry of Health for the protection of citizens, and for consultation before adopting behaviors such as the use of masks «which could be harmful to health».

In addition, the minister praised the effectiveness of the approaches adopted by the Pasteur Institute of Casablanca, where laboratory tests are carried out for the detection of the covid-19 virus, noting that the various hospitals in the Kingdom are ready to receive patients in case of need.