Deconfinement, Difficult Process That Should Take into Account Epidemiological Situation (Govt. Chief)

08 mai 2020 Printable Version

Rabat - Head of government Saad Dine El Otmani said Thursday that deconfinement is more difficult than its establishment, because such a process remains dependent on the epidemiological situation.

In an interview broadcast on national TV channels, El Otmani explained that "the government's first concern is to avoid going backwards and beat the worst, while continuing to make progress despite the sacrifices made".

"The executive is developing a set of post-May 20 scenarios that will be announced to the public at the appropriate time," he said, stressing that "the battle is still long".

The head of government further specified that the post-coronavirus phase will be examined in depth as well as the means to manage it, noting that the government does not have a definitive vision for the post-crisis period, but scenarios are being developed by the ministries of Health and Interior.

Regarding the economic cost of the pandemic, he estimated that "no one can make an assessment on this subject", specifying that 62% of companies have declared a temporary or permanent cessation of their activities and that the government is aware of the economic difficulties and supports the Economic Monitoring Committee in developing recovery scenarios.

El Otmani said in this regard that professionals from all sectors have begun to reflect on how to achieve economic recovery, noting that it is a matter of bringing these scenarios together to develop a global vision.

Referring to the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic, El Otmani said that the epidemiological situation remains under control, showing improvement in several indicators as the number of people cured each day exceeds that of new cases of contamination.

"More than 90% of confirmed cases are in a state of health that is considered good (...) they represent a few symptoms but which are not worrying," he said, noting that the number of critical cases is decreasing day by day thanks to the efforts made.

He also noted that the case-fatality rate has fallen to 3.3 per cent, which explains, according to him, that the health intervention has been effective and "we have been able to avoid the worst" due to the preventive measures thanks to which the Kingdom has been able to avoid 200 deaths per day.