Govt considering an inspection regime for workplaces

Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, on Thursday, said the Government is considering a special inspection regime for workplaces to enable it to take drastic action against those who are breaching the anti-COVID-19 protocols.

The Information Minister said while the Government was living up to its expectation by putting in place all the necessary safety measures against the pandemic, it required that every citizen to play their responsible role of adhering to all the protocols.

These include regular hand washing, wearing of face masks and observing social distancing rules.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah, who was speaking at the Ministry’s COVID-19 update press briefing in Accra, said it was a very worrying observation that a large number of people living, especially within cosmopolitan areas, were still refusing to adhere to the mandatory protocols.

These unhealthy attitudes, he said, were partly to be blamed for the current increases in daily infections recorded in hotspot communities across the country, and also at workplaces.

He said the more worrying trend was that majority of the new cases being recorded now were workplace-related, saying the people could be picking the infection from either place and spreading, hence the need to tighten the ‘knots at both ends’ to curtail the source of the virus.

The Minister, therefore, advised all Management of institutions to maintain and enforce strict adherence to all the COVID-19 protocols, with special emphasis on regular handwashing with soap under running water, social distancing and wearing of face masks within their working environment.

He encouraged them to sustain the education on the disease at their workplaces and ensure spacing in offices while abiding by the rules to regularly cleanse door knobs, surfaces and washrooms to prevent the spread of the virus.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah stressed that COVID-19 was real and was very deadly because it had infected more than six million globally, killed more than half a million and advised those who did not still believe in the existence of the virus to begin to change their perception and behave responsibly to save themselves and others.

“Our best bet is to ensure that while the government is doing what is needed to be done, citizens will also respond to the rule put in place,” he emphasised.

Responding to the question as to whether the government was overwhelmed by the pandemic or not, he said it was not but committed to addressing all the challenges, citing the recent shortage of testing kits, which was being solved.

The Government, he said was living up to its responsibilities, and expected all other citizens to be responsible in their actions and decisions in order to win the fight.

Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded 641 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the country’s cumulative number of infections to 23,463. With 18,622 clinical recoveries and 129 deaths, the active case counts now at 4,717.

Of these, 26 persons are severely ill, eight in critical condition and six on ventilators.