COVID-19: Birim Central Assembly Goes Tough On Face Mask Directive

The Birim Central Municipal Assembly today, Friday begun enforcement of mandatory wearing of fase mask in the municipality after a first positive case of coronavirus was recorded in the area.

Majority of residents in Akim Oda go about their daily activities without observing the health protocols in place.

Some residents who spoke to Citi News blamed the neglect of the protocols on lack of public education and sensitization by the local assembly and relevant institutions.

“I am so worried because we keep getting new cases day in day out from Accra and other regions. The WHO has made it clear that this disease is airborne, and so looking at what is going on here in Oda, the situation is very worrying. I had an experience with a market woman when I went to buy Hausa Koko in the morning. She wasn't wearing a nose mask so I asked her why she wasn't wearing one and her response was that God will save her.”

“In Oda, those in authority like the MCE have been talking about the wearing of nose masks and other COVID-19 protocols but in town, people are not doing so. A few people wear the nose masks while others carry it in their pockets,” another resident added.

The Municipal Chief Executive, Madam Victoria Adu who is worried about the development says a task force will from today enforce the mandatory wearing of the nose mask to prevent the spread of the deadly virus and possibly close down the market and other business entities who fail to adhere to all protocols.

“The task force will go round to make sure that they have them [nose masks] on and also check the distancing especially when we go to the commercial bank here in Oda; a whole bank has allowed customers to gather themselves as if they have not heard anything. So we are going to inform the managers to be very careful because when it comes to that point we are going to close them down. We have also informed the market authorities to ensure the distancing because we have divided them into two groups.”

Meanwhile, the Eastern Region has confirmed a total of 95 COVID-19 cases after one new case of the virus was recorded on Tuesday, May 5, 2020.

Many health facilities in the Eastern Region are still struggling to get the full complement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers in spite of individual, institutional and Group donations and some few distributions by the Ghana Health Service.

---citinewsroom