Morocco: Wave of indignation over fake COVID-19 video broadcast by Saudi channel 

A video broadcast by a Saudi channel has sparked official and popular anger in Morocco as it was linked by local media to Riyadh’s position on Rabat in relation to the Gulf crisis and the Western Sahara conflict.

The video, broadcast by Al-Hadath, showed a Moroccan woman who was allegedly infected with the coronavirus in quarantine in a hospital crying due to hunger and asking doctors for food and water.

The content of the video was denied by the Moroccan Ministry of Health, stressing that the woman was neither infected by the virus nor starved by the hospital’s medical staff, reported Al Jazeera.

The Ministry of Health issued a statement clarifying that the woman was upset because she had been staying with one of her friends who came to the hospital to be tested for the virus.

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The statement added that due to her extreme concern, the woman refused to leave the emergency room. Thus, after insisting on staying she checked in at the hospital. The woman was kept in a hall designated for suspicious cases, apart from the quarantine rooms dedicated for confirmed cases.

The statement also indicated that the hospital served lunch to the woman.

According to Al-Sahifa newspaper, the Saudi channel broadcast the video several times around the clock on Sunday, and firmly reiterated that the woman was infected with COVID-19, and that she was being starved, despite the fact that the allegations were denied.

To date, Morocco has recorded 638 infections and 36 deaths.