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The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah has identified street hawkers as potential carriers of the deadly coronavirus and could spread it in Ghana if they are not strictly checked by health authorities.
He observes that persons who sell in traffic do not adhere to the safety protocols, especially the wearing of nose masks and could contaminate their wares with the disease and transmit same to passengers who buy from them.
“One group of people we have all not paid attention to but could cause mayhem with the disease in the country if they are not well controlled or protected are those who sell in traffic”, he has said.
Speaking in an interview with U TV monitored by MyNewsGh.com on Friday morning, he said, “you could see sachet water sellers serving their customers with their bare hands and they would not be wearing nose masks too; in case they have the disease and have been sneezing, they could contaminate the water before giving them to the customers who would also put them straight into their mouths without cleaning them; imagine the number of people who could contract the disease from such vendors”.
The scientific basis for the minister’s claims could however not be ascertained by this portal.
The former Bosomtwe legislator said it was for this reason and others that the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC), would be stepping up its efforts aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the coming week, with effect from Monday, April 27, 2020.
“From Monday, when the security personnel find you in town without wearing a nose mask, you will be arrested and made to face the law; we must all know that all these measures are covered under ACT 1012 which was passed by the Parliament not long ago; so the law will deal with you and you could pay at least GHC 12,000 if you are found guilty”, he said.
The Ghana Police Service has however said that, though the move to make the wearing of face masks “mandatory” is “good; it is not enforceable without any law backing same”.
Public Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, DSP Afia Tenge has urged that, a legislative instrument or a law be enacted to make noncompliance to the directive enforceable, so that defaulters could be arrested and put before court.
The Ashanti Region had recorded 69 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3 deaths as at the time of filing this story.
It is the second highest among 12 regions which have so far recorded cases of the deadly contagion as at Friday afternoon; the Greater Accra Region leads on the log with 1059 confirmed cases.
Source:MyNewsGh.com
