At a press conference to present the assessment of the epidemiological situation for January 2023, Coordinator of the Ministry’s National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations, Mouad Mrabet, said that the small wave of SARS-CoV-2 large-scale spread, which lasted for ten weeks, was generally of average level.
Morocco has been in the fifth interim period for four weeks, which is currently characterized by very low spread levels of variants and sublineages of Omicron, including subvariants BQ.1 and BA.2 and their sublineages, he noted.
Since the beginning of 2023 and to date, only 27 cases have been admitted to intensive care and resuscitation units, of which only two in the last two weeks, he noted, pointing out that complications of severe covidosis have claimed the lives of two elderly people in the first weeks of the current year.
At the national level, “we are living a very comfortable epidemiological situation” in the different regions, Mrabet said, adding that the surveillance system continues to track epidemiological indicators, including variants in circulation as part of the genomic watch.
Globally, he continued, indicators of morbidity, virulence and lethality are steadily declining in the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions, according to the latest data, and all currently circulating sublines of the Omicron variant have shown no increase in disease risk.
Mrabet also noted that despite the significant improvement in the global epidemiological situation, COVID-19 remains highly lethal compared to other respiratory infectious diseases, and that vaccine hesitancy and misinformation are two additional barriers to implementing decisive public health interventions.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare urges people with respiratory symptoms to wear a mask and stop all professional or social activities while they visit health facilities for diagnosis and appropriate treatment, especially since the current period is also characterized by the spread of seasonal respiratory viruses.
The Ministry also reminds the elderly and chronically ill of the need to complete their vaccination regimen to boost their immunity to COVID-19.
