Coronavirus: About 1000 markets to be fumigated - Deputy Minister

About one thousand identified markets in Ghana are to be fumigated in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“We have had extensive discussions with managers of the various markets, and they have given their consent for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) to carry on with the exercise,” Mr. Augustine Collins Ntim, Deputy Minister of the sector, said.

Consequently, the public would be updated on when those facilities would be shut for the exercise to begin, he added.

Mr. Ntim, who was addressing a presentation ceremony in Kumasi, said the markets were usually overcrowded, hence, the need for the mass exercise to disinfect them in order to prevent the transfer of harmful living organisms such as the coronavirus.

The programme saw all the 43 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Region being presented with a number of ‘Veronica’ buckets, hand sanitizers, plastic buckets and tissues to augment the fight against the COVID-19.

The Deputy Minister cautioned Ghanaians to take the on-going campaign seriously, to create awareness on the pandemic, of which the nation had so far recorded 24 cases.

He advised the public to put premium on personal hygiene and social distancing given the deadly nature of the disease.

Nana Yaa Oforiwaa, an Executive Member of the Kumasi Central Market Traders’ Association, called for more education on the disease.

This, she said, was necessary to enable traders make an informed decision as to how they ought to conduct themselves in the wake of the pandemic.

In a related development, the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has denied media reports that it intended to shut major markets in the metropolis.

“In the interest of all stakeholders and the general public, such announcement is not emanating from any official source. It must, therefore, be treated with the contempt it deserves,” Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, the Mayor, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

The misinformation led to panic shopping at the various markets and shopping centres in Kumasi, over the weekend as the public rushed to those facilities to buy food for stock.