Fight Against Coronavirus: Morocco's Public Policy 'Goes Far Beyond the Continent' (RFI)

21 avril 2020 Printable Version

Paris - By anticipating the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic and stimulating national solidarity, Morocco has given a "model" of a public policy that "goes far beyond the continent alone", Radio France Internationale (RFI) has pointed out.

In an article published on its website under the title "Covid-19 in Morocco: masks, medicine and social protection", the French radio recalls the measures taken by Morocco to curb the spread of the epidemic, provide support to the most disadvantaged groups, support businesses and employees and reorient the industrial units of the country to meet the needs dictated by the current economic situation.

"Ten days after the confirmation on March 4 of the first case of Covid-19 (...), borders and schools were closed and a confinement was decreed on March 20, at the same time as the state of emergency health ", RFI says, adding that health professionals, who have not returned home since March 25, are housed at hotels which have been made available to them free of charge by various private and public groups.

While wearing masks became mandatory since April 7, textile factories reoriented their production at the end of March to manufacture 3 million protective masks per day with the prospect of doubling production by the end of April, RFI points out.

RFI also underlines Covid-19 mass testing, which began in early April, with the objective of reaching 10,000 tests per day through nine laboratories.

On the economic front, the French radio stresses that no less than 810,000 employees in the formal sector have began to receive compensation of 90 euros corresponding to the second half of March, adding that they will receive 180 euros per month over a period of three months, until June.

Households can also ask their banks for the postponement of their loans, while workers in the informal sector identified via Ramed will receive between 75 and 112 euros depending on the size of the household, RFI points out.

Regarding the financing of these measures, RFI stresses that a Monitoring Committee was set up on March 11 under the supervision of the ministry of Economy and Finance than a special fund was put in place to fight against the coronavirus on March 15, at a time when the country had reported only 28 cases and one death.

The coming weeks will give an idea about the results of all these measures, which few countries in the world have taken on this scale, it says, noting that in the meantime, the "Moroccan exception" relates above all to the speed of its political decision-making.