The third wave of community transmission related to the Omicron variant, which started two weeks ago in Morocco, would be faster and shorter than the Delta wave, estimated the coordinator of the National Center for Public Health Emergency Operations, Mouad Mrabet.
"According to our approach in field epidemiology, based on experiences and observations, the current wave is likely to be faster and shorter than the Delta wave," Mrabet, also president of the National Association of Field Epidemiology, said in a commentary on the epidemiological status of covid-19 as of Dec. 26.
This wave will probably last eleven weeks, with a peak during the week of January 17 to 23, 2022, he said, stressing that everything depends on the degree of adherence of the population to preventive measures and mechanisms put in place by the government.
According to him, after an analysis of the indicators, wave III began the week of December 13-19 and was confirmed the week of December 20-26, during which three regions went from low (green) to moderate (orange) levels.
In this regard, Mrabet reported a "strong weekly change" in the number of cases (almost 50%) last week compared to the previous week, with a reproduction rate of 1.42.
The weekly positivity rate has increased, meanwhile, to 3.1%, while the number of severe cases has also evolved despite the fact that the weekly incidence of severe Covidosis still remains low <1/100,000 Hts, he added.
"The wave is here, unfortunately. We have missed six weeks of inter-wave period to strengthen our immunity through vaccination. We have also given all possible facilities to this virus to spread through the total removal of all barriers (mask, distancing, hygiene)," he warned.
To reduce the severity and mortality of the current wave, Mrabet stressed the importance of urgently restoring barriers to help reduce the spread of the virus and thus reduce the likelihood of complications/deaths occurring in at-risk individuals, increasing immunity through vaccination to significantly reduce the risk of severe covidosis, and adhering to the therapeutic protocol.
