Omicron accounts for 70% of cases in Morocco

RABAT, Morocco

The omicron variant of coronavirus currently accounts for 70% of cases in Morocco, the nation’s health minister said on Friday.

Speaking to the state-run Medi1 TV, Khalid Ait Taleb said that omicron has widely spread across the North African country.

The highly transmissible variant has killed six people so far, he added, urging people to get their booster shots.

Most of the COVID-19 cases in intensive units are unvaccinated people, he said.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan prison authorities halted family visits to prisoners amid the rise in coronavirus cases.

The first omicron case in Morocco was confirmed on Dec. 15.

As of Thursday evening, the Moroccan health authorities said over 983,600 infections were confirmed since the start of the pandemic, including nearly 15,500 deaths and 946,300 recovered cases.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar