"Preparations have started for the implementation of deconfinement measures, once the epidemiological conditions have been met and as soon as the logistical conditions are in place," he told both houses of parliament.

 Speaking at a session on "post-May 20 health confinement management", El Otmani listed four prerequisites for confinement mitigation. These, he said, include the capacity of the health system, the potential for testing, the ability to follow up all cases and a sufficient stock of sanitary equipment.

 The health care system, he said, must have sufficient capacity to manage and accommodate cases of Covid-19 infection under a de-containment scenario, while continuing to make treatment available for other cases of illness.

 Among the conditions for mitigating the current measures, El Otmani emphasized the ability to conduct tests for contaminated persons in a timely manner and to follow up contact persons.

If the number of tests did not exceed a thousand per day at the time of the crisis debate in only two laboratories, the Kingdom is currently carrying out 6600 PCR tests in 13 laboratories, he added. This figure can reach 8000 tests every day if we take into account the five laboratories of the Royal Armed Forces hospitals, three laboratories in partner or private structures.

In this regard, the head of government announced that three additional laboratories will be launched in the coming weeks in the cities of Errachidia, Dakhla and Nador, in addition to a mobile laboratory. Efforts are being made to reach a daily capacity of 10,000 tests in the near future, he added.

For the condition related to the capacity to follow up all cases and their contact persons, he indicated that the ministries of Health and Interior are developing the computer application "Wikayatona" for the follow-up of probable cases of Covid-19.

"Coping with a possible increase in contamination due to deconfinement requires an adequate stock of medical equipment and materials, including masks and disinfectants," he said, noting that thanks to the tremendous efforts of domestic industry, this stock will be made available to the health system.

The government, he said, has a well-defined strategy based on clear conditions and principles, as well as comprehensive and targeted sectoral measures for the lifting of confinement.

El Otmani said that such a deconfinement requires mitigation measures declined on stages but also accompanying measures according to the evolution of the epidemiological situation. This mitigation, he noted, will take into consideration the territorial dimension given the disparities between provinces and prefectures, and the worrying situation in four regions: Casablanca-Settat, Marrakech-Safi, Fez-Meknes and Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima.

In the event of the appearance of new clusters of contamination, he noted, the suspension of certain deconfinement measures will be possible on a territorial level or at the level of the outbreak concerned.

 According to the head of government, the other principle adopted is positive discrimination in the sense of greater protection of vulnerable groups, particularly persons over 65 years of age and persons suffering from chronic diseases.

 In this context, he noted that the mitigation of confinement measures does not in any way imply an automatic lifting of all preventive measures of a personal or professional nature. In this connection, El Otmani stressed the need to maintain measures of social distancing, hygiene and the compulsory wearing of masks in the public space.

 Furthermore, the resumption of economic or commercial activity requires scrupulous compliance with preventive measures given the nature of any activity, he concluded.