Coronavirus: PROTOA Intensifies Safety Measures

The Sunyani Municipal branch of the Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA) has taken precautionary measures to stem the spread of the Corona Virus (COVID-19) among passengers.

When the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited its main bus terminal at the Nana Bosoma Market on Wednesday, a market day in Sunyani, the Association had placed Veronica Buckets at vantage points, for passengers to wash their hands with medicated soaps under running water.

It had also made available quantities of sanitizers for passengers to clean their hands before they boarded their vehicles.

In an interview with the GNA, Mr. Peter Ackom, the Sunyani Municipal Branch Chairman of PROTOA said the measures were to complement government's efforts to control the spread of the COVID-19.

Mr. Ackom indicated the COVID-19 had become a global health emergency situation, and advised Ghanaians to adhere to the Presidential directives to prevent the spread of the virus in the country.

Meanwhile, all educational institutions in the Sunyani Municipality have suspended classes as directed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Few students were sighted on campus during a visit by the GNA to the Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG), University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), the Sunyani Technical University (STU) and the College for Community and Organisational development (CCOD) in Sunyani.

There was absolute calm as most of the lecture halls were all closed.

They told the GNA they preferred staying at the hostels and do private studies rather than going back home.

“Who are you to defy the presidential directive”, Dr. Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, the President of the CCOD, which is an affiliate of the University of Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale stated when the GNA chanced on him.

The situation was however, not different, as all basic and Senior High Schools in the Municipality had also closed down.

But, at the Sunyani SHS, Twene Amanfo Senior High/Technical School as well as the Methodist Vocational and Technical SHS, some final year students were sighted on campus, but some of them told the GNA classes were not all that effective.

Some financial institutions in the Municipality had also undertaken precautionary measures to control the spread of the COVID-14.

The banks, Including GCB Bank Limited, Sunyani main branch, Agricultural Development Bank and Nsoatreman Rural Bank had made available sanitizers, for all customers to clean their hands before they entered the banking halls.

During the visit to some of the banks, cashiers attending to customers were sighted wearing gloves and nose masks while management had engaged people who assisted customers to apply the sanitizers.

So far, Ghana has recorded seven cases of the COVID-19 and 143 suspected cases have been tested by Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) and Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research (KCCR).

---GNA