RAPID IMPLEMENTATION OF REAL-TIME REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTION POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (REAL-TIME RT-PCR) ASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF SARS-COV-2 IN A MOROCCAN HOSPITAL.

Background: The main challenge faced in the African countries was to implement efficient molecular diagnostic facilities and start Covid-19 diagnosis as fast as possible to handle the rapid and unpredictable rise of cases.

Materials Methods And Results: We describe our experience in implementing a molecular biology unit at Sheikh Zaïd International University Hospital in Rabat, with a delay as short as one week, and starting real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of SARS-Cov-2 infection, since the outbreak widened in Morocco in mid-March, 2020.

Conclusion: The challenges encountered in the first period of Covid-19 pandemic are still present.

First Report of a SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequence with a Spike His69-Val70 Deletion and an Asn439Lys Mutation in Morocco.

We report the nearly complete genome sequence and the genetic variations of a clinical sample of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) collected from a nasopharyngeal swab specimen from a male patient from Harhoura-Rabat, Morocco. The sequence, which was obtained using Ion Torrent technology, is valuable as it carries a recently described deletion (His69-Val70) and substitution (Asn439Lys).