The Coronavirus (COVID-19) task force of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly has, according to a story we have carried somewhere in the paper today, deployed security personnel, made up of the police and military, to enforce the compulsory wearing of face masks in the Metropolis to stop the spread of the pandemic.
According to the story, these security personnel have been deployed to heavily congested areas such as the black market around Market Circle, Sekondi taxi rank and Jubilee Park among other places, to ensure that shoppers, drivers and passengers comply with the order. According to the same story, the Western North Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has also issued a similar directive to the people to wear face masks, as part of measures to control the spread of the disease.
The Chronicle commends the REGSEC of these two regions for the action they have taken. It is instructive to note that the Western Region was the first to have pioneered the idea of testing those entering the region at the outskirts of Sekondi. This was after the President had announced his intention to lockdown down the country and people thought it was a ‘death warrant’ and started fleeing Accra.
Though the Ashanti Region REGSEC was the first to have announced the compulsory wearing of face masks, it did not deploy security personnel on the streets to enforce that order. This is the reason why we are commending both the Western and Western North regions for the action. Despite the devastating effect the disease is having on this country – killing people and also bringing economic activities to a standstill – some Ghanaians are still adamant on the call to protect themselves.
They move around with careless abandon, and have refused to listen to instructions on how to stop the disease from spreading. To these people, the only language they understand is force. They will never respect directives from medical experts until they are forced to do so. To us, at The Chronicle, therefore, both the Western and Western North regions have set the record for others to also emulate.
It is interesting to note that Greater Accra, the epic centre of the disease in Ghana, came out with the idea to force the people to wear face masks. But, as we put this piece together, we are yet to see anywhere in Accra soldiers and police officers on the streets forcing people to wear the masks. It is business as usual, as people are seen going round in the national capital without wearing any protective cover.
As we noted in our previous opinion on the issue, the Covid-19 is a serious disease, and if we joke with it, the country will be laughing at the wrong side of her mouth. As we did indicate, the upsurge we are seeing in Ghana was exactly what happened in Europe before it started killing the people in the hundreds and thousands.
If the whole United States of America has been humbled by this pandemic, then we, in Ghana, had better watch out. We should not be seen to be playing with fire, knowing very well what it can do if we fail to handle it with care.
Whilst the various government institutions are playing their roles, we, the citizens, must also complement what they are doing, by respecting their orders. The Chronicle also calls on the various driver unions to make the wearing of face masks a condition for a passenger to board a vehicle. In so doing, all of us would have put our shoulders to wheel in the fight to stop the Covid-19 from causing serious problems in the country.
The post Editorial: Western North &Western regions have shown the way to fight Covid-19 appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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