Speaking at the Government Council, held Thursday by videoconference, El Otmani explained that it was necessary to take this decision to avoid the increase in deaths from Covid-19 among citizens, calling for confidence in experts and those in charge. He regretted, at the same time, the spread of certain fake news which contributed to a kind of laxity in the implementation of the measures.
The future cannot be predicted in the face of the increase in the filling rate of intensive care beds, he noted, stressing that given the difficulty of the measures taken and their social and economic impact, the government has taken several initiatives, in particular the continued support for workers in certain professions and sectors.
He indicated that the government has issued decrees concerning eight categories whose employees continue to benefit from support under the set conditions, adding that the government will continue to work in coordination with the sectors concerned, which are studying the situation with the Committee of economic monitoring and taking the necessary decisions, while listening to and interacting with complaints from professionals.
In addition, the Head of Government said that "the decisions of our country are not reproduced from any other country, because we have experts and officials who, thanks to their experiences and expertise, develop purely national decisions", emphasizing the need to be proud of Moroccan experts whether in the health or epidemiological field, at the level of security authorities and territorial administrations, or in the field of religious supervision, under the leadership of the Commander of the Faithful.
With the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan, diligent work was carried out for several weeks to study the situation with the parties concerned and the scientific committee, he said, noting in this perspective that the experts and specialists remain the reference in medicine, health and epidemiology.
On the national coronavirus vaccination campaign, which was launched by HM the King two and a half months ago despite strong competition between countries around the world, the official noted that the Kingdom has managed to provide a reasonable vaccination level and was among the first countries to initiate the vaccination process, deeming this an achievement that Moroccans can be proud of, with the number of people vaccinated with both doses having exceeded 4 millions.
The head of government said that Morocco has recorded nearly 9,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, noting that the number of deaths would have reached, according to experts, tens of thousands without the measures taken in time and in a preventive manner.
Morocco, he went on, is among the countries that have achieved successes in the fight against the pandemic, successes of which Moroccans can be proud.
El Otmani referred to the support for the promotion of the national economy thanks to the bold decisions ordered by HM the King, noting in this context that the government has developed and implemented these decisions to support businesses, in particular SMEs, as well as professionals, artisans and cooperatives.
The collective resistance that the country has experienced for more than a year against the Covid-19 pandemic, under the insightful leadership of HM King Mohammed VI, has "enabled our country to avoid the worse during this period and to achieve many successes in the fight against this pandemic, successes recognized at the national, regional and international levels", said the Head of government.
He also tackled the precautionary measures taken by Morocco thanks to the royal directives, which have helped to reduce the social and economic repercussions of the pandemic, adding that the Kingdom was the first to support a number of vulnerable groups, in particular people affected by the lockdown.