When Moroccan nurse Mofadal Ahyane lost his first patient to Covid-19, he had a recurring nightmare.
He dreamt his patient was in agony and slipped from his body, which gradually transformed into Mr Ahyane’s father, then brother, then a friend.
“The death of that man will never leave me as long as I live,” Mr Ahyane said.
His voice cracked as he recalled how doctors and nurses at a hospital in the northern city of Tetouan tried in vain to save the man’s life.
The virus has upended life for Morocco’s medical staff. They work at better facilities than medics across much of Africa but are often short of the equipment available in European hospitals, which have also been overwhelmed during the pandemic.
Medical professionals across Morocco spoke of heartbreak, fear and the challenges of working safely.
Two Moroccan doctors have died after becoming infected with the virus, officials said.
The country, which is under a strict lockdown, has more than 4,700 confirmed cases and about 170 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Since early March, the Moroccan government has steadily introduced virus control measures that have turned vibrant cities into near ghost towns.
Health minister Khalid Ait Boutaleb said that without the preventive measures, Morocco would have faced 6,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
Still, the virus has caused havoc in the personal lives of some healthcare workers, temporarily tearing them from their families as medics self-isolate at the end of the day to keep their loved ones safe.
Iman Benali, a radiology nurse at Casablanca’s Sidi Moumen Hospital, has been away from her husband and 6-year-old child since early March.
Some nurses at the hospital had to stop breastfeeding their children when duty called, Ms Benali said.
Her long days end in isolation at a hotel, where 70 other medical professionals stay.
Housekeepers at the hote are also forced to leave their families behind to stay in hotel rooms because of their contact with medics.
Ms Benali said the sacrifices she shared with colleagues created a special bond.
Coronavirus across the Middle East
“We watch out for each other out of compassion, but also out of fear for our own health,” she said.
“If a hospital worker gets contaminated, it means the entire hospital workforce may be contaminated.”
At Moulay Abdellah Hospital in Morocco’s Atlantic coastal city of Sale, Dr Youssef Dhabi said he believed the deaths of his colleagues were a driving force for caregivers.
“If the deceased doctors were given a chance to return to work, they would take it instantly. You’d find them in their protective gear, treating patients,” he said.
During his 12-hour shift, Mr Ahyane rarely eats because he fears contamination. “You wonder, are your hands clean enough to eat?” he said.
Dr Houcine Benazouz doesn’t even consider eating. Since early March, he has been running between departments at the hospital in Tetouan.
At night, he stays in a white, impersonal hotel room far from the comfort of his loved ones.
“It has to be the hardest choice I made, leaving my wife and children behind me,” he said.
Nabil Zouini, who works with a testing task force in his home town of Meknes, hasn’t been home for more than a month and said his daughter, 3, couldn’t understand why he wasn't at home.
He said he spoke to her regularly via video chats. “She smiles at me every night and asks me: ‘Dad, are you coming back home tomorrow?’” Mr Zouini said. “If I say no, she cries.”
He wears a new mask and gown every time he encounters a suspected Covid-19 case, but is never certain he is safe from infection.
“The hardest part is taking the gown off. We have to do it in a way that we don’t touch the outside of the suit, which is fully contaminated," he said.
"We can only take off the suit from the inside out.”
He said he changed gowns at least 10 times a day.
It’s beginning to feel as though the ancient ramparts of Meknes are closing in, he said.
“The psychological turmoil is incredibly hard. Many of us will be scarred by what we see," he said.
Mr Zouini described an eerie emptiness in the streets of the city, an image that clashed with the normal ambience of Meknes, which once drew tourists from across the world.
“As I drive to homes of suspected cases, my eyes flash for a second and I see the cafes, the playgrounds buzzing with life … before I’m brought back to reality,” he said.
Using a typical Moroccan expression that may speak to all the country’s health workers, Mr Zouini said: “I say to myself, we can’t meet each other today, but we will hug tomorrow.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4.4-litre%2C%20twin-turbo%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E617hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E750Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh630%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk