27 – 29 May, 2020
Despite the controversy, Aït Taleb maintains the chloroquine treatment
While its use in the treatment of coronavirus is still controversial, Morocco decided to maintain the treatment based on chloroquine against the pandemic. The Moroccan Minister of Health explains and defends its effectiveness.
While the WHO has decided to suspend clinical trials with hydroxychloroquine temporarily, Morocco is maintaining its use, reveals the daily L’Economiste in its edition of Wednesday 27 May.
The Minister of Health, Khalid Aït Taleb, has confirmed that it will be maintained. The latter, however, confided that “opinions differ. But the main thing is that chloroquine is involved in viral inactivation. “The virus infects the host by entering the cell in several stages. One of the stages is inhibited by chloroquine,” he insisted.
At the beginning of May, the minister said on television that the use of chloroquine “gives good results”. According to him, “everyone can see it in the field. It is not just us who are saying it, but the same is true internationally”.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
ONCF will start a progressive resumption of activities on 1st June
The National Railways Office (ONCF) will strengthen, from Monday 1 June 2020, the offer of fast shuttle trains (TNR), which offer reduced during the period of confinement on the nearby Casa Port-Settat, Casa Port-El Jadida and Casa Port-Rabat-Kanitra routes.
The ONCF announced Thursday in a statement that the number of services will increase from 20 to 40 trains per day, combined with the reopening of the Rabat Agdal and Salé Tabriquet stations, and this “in full compliance with the measures issued by the competent authorities and following the gradual evolution of demand”.
To this end, the Office is putting in place an appropriate system of protection and health security measures, while introducing new travel rules to “accompany the gradual resumption of traffic and ensure optimal conditions for protected travel,” the statement said.
The system also provides a series of preventive and proactive security measures to help protect against COVID-19 and to ensure strict compliance with health measures, including screening passengers at the entrance to stations to separate flows, controlling the wearing of masks in stations and onboard trains, making hydro-alcoholic gels available in stations and onboard trains, as well as reinforced and continuous cleaning and disinfection of trains and shared areas in stations.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
Publication of guidelines for the Management of the Risk of COVID-19 Contamination in the Workplace
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and the Green and Digital Economy and the Ministry of Labour and Professional Integration inform all employers and social partners, as part of the support for the resumption of economic activity, that it developed a set of guidelines for the management of the risk of COVID-19 contamination in workplaces. These guidelines objective is to establish general orientations relating to precautionary measures aims to guarantee healthy working conditions to protect the health and safety of employees and thus limit the spread of contamination by the virus.
The said guidelines were drawn up following Decree-Law No. 2.20.292 laying down specific provisions for a state of health emergency and the measures for its announcement, in particular Articles 3 and 5. It also follows the provisions of Decree No. 2.20.293 on the announcement of a state of health emergency throughout the national territory to deal with the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The prevention and protection measures recommended by this protocol concern, in particular, the planning and organisation of work, access to work premises, hygiene in the workplace, the organisation of the catering service, transport, and the care of symptomatic persons and suspect cases. Other sectoral guides taking into account the specificities of each economic activity will also be developed.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.
Reopening of cafés and restaurants from Friday, May 29th
Rumour has been going around since Eid Al Fitr. Will restaurants and cafés be back in operation after more than two months? The answer is yes, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has just announced the decision in a press release.
In the document, the ministry states that the opening will only apply to cafés and restaurants that provide home delivery service or take out “take-away” orders. The premises will remain empty. Only staff will be allowed to enter.
The communiqué specifies that a special commission will be responsible for carrying out surprise checks to ensure compliance with the health measures listed as follows:
Checking the cleanliness of the equipment and disinfecting it throughout the day, in addition to sufficient ventilation of the rooms. The number of staff will have to be reduced to avoid the risk of contagion. The communiqué calls on those responsible for finding ways of rotating staff to ensure the safety of employees.
In addition to respecting physical distancing rules between clients and employees, establishments will have to make hydroalcoholic gels and masks available to their clients and ensure awareness of the dangers of the epidemic. The communiqué insists on food control throughout the process.
For more information, please consult (in French) the following link.