Coronavirus : Risk of virus spreading would be greater in large cities, HCP

The risk of propagation of Covid-19 would be greater in large cities due to two risk factors, namely housing density and overcrowding, said the High Commission for Planning (HCP).

Within these cities, it is the strata of old medina, economic and social habitat in addition to the stratum of shantytowns that present the highest risk of contamination, whether in terms of population density or overcrowding of housings, said the HCP in a note entitled «Geo-demographic approach to the major risks of exposure to coronavirus transmission».

Indeed, according to the health statistics as of May 24, 86% of the 7,532 people infected with the coronavirus in Morocco, nearly nine out of ten cases, come from the five densest regions of the Kingdom. These are the regions of Casablanca-Settat (32.6%), Marrakech-Safi (17.6%), Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima (13.8%), Fez-Meknes (13.2%) and Rabat-Salé-Kenitra (9.2%).

These regions also have the highest concentrations of citizens active in the industrial sector (over 12% of the working population), the HCP noted, adding that these activities are mainly found in urban areas that are also characterized by high population densities.