Morocco’s Prime Minister Saad Dine El Othmani warned on Monday of an outbreak of the British COVID-19 variant in the kingdom.
“As of April 9, Morocco has registered 115 confirmed cases of the variant, while there are 1,500 semi-confirmed cases of the same variant, bringing the overall number to around 1,600 spread across the kingdom,” he said.
Speaking at a joint plenary session of the two houses of the parliament, the PM voiced concerns about the British variants, which spreads quickly and affects younger people.
Defending his government’s decision to maintain a night curfew throughout the holy month of Ramadan, Othmani said a total lockdown was on the table but the government opted for a partial curfew in order to protect citizens’ health.
He noted that from April 5 to April 11, Morocco has registered 3,905 new coronavirus infections, with a steady increase during the past three weeks.
In the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry registered 684 new virus cases, bringing the total to 502,961. It recorded six deaths, bringing the total number to 8,915, while recoveries rose to 489,288.
Commenting on the vaccination drive, the PM said Morocco has maintained a steady inoculation campaign and has become one of the leading countries in terms of administered doses per capita, adding that more than 11 percent of the population has already received the jab.
So far, Morocco has administered 8.6 million shots.
