London, June 8, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb announced on June 7 that 24 national laboratories in Morocco carried out a combined total of 17,500 screening tests for COVID-19 in one day.

Morocco aims to carry out 1.8 million COVID-19 tests by the end of July or the start of August.

The official said Morocco’s initial testing capacity was 2,000 tests per day in three laboratories, but the country has since accelerated its COVID-19 response, allowing the country to process more than 17,500 tests per day.

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The official remarked on the commendable development during a webinar for healthcare professionals and the press.

The performance does not include the health ministry’s laboratories or private sector laboratories, he clarified.

“The citizens who carried out the tests exceeded 340,000. There are certain citizens who benefited from tests on several occasions. This important figure reflects a colossal effort,”, the minister explained.

The country received applause from international media and institutions for its proactive preventive measures to stifle the severity of the virus.

Morocco’s Ministry of Health reported 73 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 8,224  as at June 7.

Morocco also confirmed 49 new recoveries in 24 hours, bringing the country’s total to 7,364. The recovery rate stands now at 89.5%.

The ministry did not report any additional deaths related to the virus, leaving total deaths at 208. The fatality rate stands at 2.5%

Morocco is set to lift its lockdown on June 10, but government sources allegedly told local media that the country is planning to extend the state of emergency for the third time to keep the epidemiological situation under control.

Source