Prevalence and associated factors of COVID-19 among Moroccan physicians: A cross-sectional study

The Family Doctor in the "COVID-19 Era"

The SARS-CoV-2 virus infection, the most severe pandemic in recent human history, found healthcare systems around the world more or less unprepared. Adjusting to this challenge involved changes in the daily routines of healthcare systems, as well as the patients, once again highlighting the importance of primary care (family physician or general practitioner). In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the family doctor in Romania played a crucial role in patient management, rapidly adapting to the changes and challenges imposed by the state of emergency. Their involvement quickly evolved from in-person consultations to online assessments, as they took on responsibilities such as monitoring patients in isolation or quarantine and issuing necessary medical leaves. Moreover, family doctors were directly involved in the COVID-19 vaccination process, facing challenges related to access to scheduling platforms and limited resources of protective equipment. Although they were on the front line of the healthcare response, recognition through incentives or compensations came late and incompletely, and their efforts in combating the pandemic were often overlooked. Designating family doctors' offices as public utility medical units (regardless of their organisational form) and supporting their activities through increased equipment and medical devices provided by local or central authorities are the keys to fighting for human lives in critical situations. Implementing clear and universal rules regarding the competencies (skills) and duties of family doctors, both in normal life situations and in exceptional circumstances, is of utmost importance. Little is known about the dedicated work and dedication of family physicians to their patients. Few studies have been carried out on the activity of the family doctor and their professional difficulties during the pandemic period. Some studies, on a small number of subjects, tried to evaluate the psychological adaptation of the family doctor to the new epidemiological situation. The aim of this narrative review is to highlight the difficulties to which family doctors had to adapt, comparing the data from the Romanian medical system with those discovered in the medical literature regarding family doctors from all over the world.

Modeling the impact of distancing measures on infectious disease spread: a case study of COVID-19 in the Moroccan population

This paper explores the impact of various distancing measures on the spread of infectious diseases, focusing on the spread of COVID-19 in the Moroccan population as a case study. Contact matrices, generated through a social force model, capture population interactions within distinct activity locations and age groups. These matrices, tailored for each distancing scenario, have been incorporated into an SEIR model. The study models the region as a network of interconnected activity locations, enabling flexible analysis of the effects of different distancing measures within social contexts and between age groups. Additionally, the method assesses the influence of measures targeting potential superspreaders (i.e., agents with a very high contact rate) and explores the impact of inter-activity location flows, providing insights beyond scalar contact rates or survey-based contact matrices. The results suggest that implementing intra-activity location distancing measures significantly reduces in the number of infected individuals relative to the act of imposing restrictions on individuals with a high contact rate in each activity location. The combination of both measures proves more advantageous. On a regional scale, characterized as a network of interconnected activity locations, restrictions on the movement of individuals with high contact rates was found to result in a $ 2 \% $ reduction, while intra-activity location-based distancing measures was found to achieve a $ 44 \% $ reduction. The combination of these two measures yielded a $ 48\% $ reduction.

Psychological Distress Associated with Enforced Hospital Isolation Due to COVID-19 during the "Flatten the Curve" Phase in Morocco: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study

(1) Background: although much research has highlighted the mental health challenges faced by patients in hospital isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, data from low-middle-income countries, including Morocco, are lacking. The main objective of this study was to assess the psychological distress of patients undergoing enforced hospital isolation during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Morocco. (2) Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study between 1 April and 1 May 2020, among patients hospitalized in isolation for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 at the Ibn Sina University Hospital of Rabat, Morocco. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Binary logistic regression was performed to identify variables associated with anxiety and depression, with a cutoff of ≥8 used for both scales to create dichotomous variables. (3) Results: among 200 patients, 42.5% and 43% scored above the cut-off points for anxiety and depression, respectively. Multiple logistic regression identified female gender, a higher education level, a longer duration of isolation, and a poor understanding of the reasons for isolation as significant factors associated with anxiety. Conversely, female gender, chronic disease, a longer duration of isolation, and a poor understanding of the reasons for isolation were factors significantly associated with depression. (4) Conclusions: our study underscores high rates of anxiety and depression among patients forced into hospital isolation during the initial phase of COVID-19 in Morocco. We identified several factors associated with patients experiencing psychological distress that may inform future discussions on mental health and psychiatric crisis management.