Corona at the Border

Moroccans are very worried following the announcement made by Algeria about the registration of the first case of the Coronavirus on its soil. This is a person of Italian nationality who has been quarantined. Two other cases have been suspected of being infected with the virus, prompting the Algerian authorities to step up preventive measures and to set up a monitoring and vigilance system at all border posts.

Also not far from Morocco, the Canary Islands have discovered a confirmed case of the deadly virus. The case involves the wife of an Italian tourist who arrived on the island of Tenerife on a tourist trip from the Italian region of Lombardy, where the disease suddenly broke out a few days ago. As a preventive measure, the authorities quarantined a number of foreign tourists present in the hotel where the Italian tourist and his infected wife were staying.

And despite the fact that the number of people infected with Corona in Italy has risen to 322 in 7 regions, and the number of deaths has reached 11, Morocco has not taken any measures to stop flights to and from Italy, knowing that the Moroccan community residing there is large, which represents a significant risk of transmission of the virus. Morocco has limited itself to subjecting travelers at ports and airports, particularly those from countries with high infection rates, such as China, South Korea and Italy, to surveillance.

To date, the Ministry of Health has not announced any confirmed cases of the Corona virus, denying all rumors circulating about a possible infection in Nador, considering it to be a rumor aimed at “causing panic and confusion among citizens”.

In its latest release to the national media, the ministry confirmed that Morocco has suspected 13 cases of infection with the virus. These cases have undergone the necessary tests with negative results that prove the absence of the virus in question.

According to an international report published by a British scientific journal, Morocco is likely to be infected with Corona, since it is one of the countries that suffer from fragility in the fight against infectious diseases, which increases the risk of importing the virus. The same report also mentions neighboring Algeria, as well as other countries, including Egypt.

Last week saw the registration of a number of cases in the Middle East and the Gulf region, including Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, in addition to Iran, where the highest mortality rate due to the virus in the world was recorded after China, where Corona was first detected.