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| COVID-19 pandemic in Western Sahara | |
|---|---|
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Western Sahara |
| First outbreak | Wuhan,Hubei,China |
| Index case | Boujdour |
| Arrival date | 4 April 2020 (4 weeks) |
| Confirmed cases | 766[1] |
| Active cases | 41 |
| Recovered | 25 |
Deaths | 2 |
TheCOVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reachedWestern Sahara in April 2020. The released data from the Moroccan government excludes cases interritory controlled by theSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.
On 12 January 2020, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that anovel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[2][3]
Thecase fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower thanSARS of 2003,[4][5] but thetransmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[6][4]
On 4 April, the first four cases were confirmed inBoujdour by theUnited Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).[7]
On 9 April, MINURSO reported that two new cases were confirmed inDakhla, bringing the number of confirmed cases to six.[8]
On 24 April, MINURSO reported four more cases, bringing the number of confirmed cases to ten.[9]
By 19 June there had been 26 confirmed cases, the latest of which inLaayoune. One patient had died (inTindouf, 24 May) while 23 had recovered and 2 were still active cases.[10]
On 31 August there were 41 active cases in Laayoune.[11]
On 30 April 2021,Morocco grantedCarles Puigdemont asylum. According to a source from the Moroccan foreign ministry, the decision was made in due to "the principle of reciprocity to host the Catalan independence leader" after Sahrawi PresidentBrahim Ghali was allowed to go to Spain to get treated forCOVID-19.[12]
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