Source: District Citizens Monitoring Committees (DCMCs)

5^th May 2020

Covid-19 case counts in Ghana continue to escalate in an alarming proportion. Nevertheless, some citizens are unfazed as they flagrantly ignore safety protocols, including the practice of social distancing.

SEND GHANA DCMC in Greater Accra visited some public places to observe how citizens, on their own, are taking preventive measures to avoid been infected by the novel coronavirus.

DCMC submits that in Shukura-Zongo within Accra Metropolis, a group of ten (10) men were spotted playing ‘ludo’. When they were confronted on why they were not observing social distancing, they indicated that coronavirus is a “hoax and attempts by the government to mobilize and misappropriate resources.”

In Lebanon zone 5, in Ashaiman, children numbering fifteen (15) were seen gleefully playing in the open, making one wonder if they ever heard about coronavirus.

At the entrance of the GCB bank in Ashaiman, some clients were seen waiting to be attended to without adhering to social distancing. Similarly, in Tema community one, citizens were seen waiting at the entrance of the MTN office without complying with the directive on social distancing.

With community spread accounting for 88% of reported cases of COVID-19 according to the Ghana Health Service (GHS), flouting of the Social Distancing protocol is worrying. It is about time government mandate appropriate institutions, such as the Ghana police service to monitor citizens adherence to the social distancing protocols and bring those who contravene to book.

DCMCs are therefore calling on the NCCE and Information Service Departments of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to intensify education on social distancing and other preventive measures to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

Clients in front of the MTN office in Tema Community 1 |Photo: DCMC

Clients of GCB bank waiting to be attended to | Photo: DCMC

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