Gross disregard for nose masks wearing high in Ellembelle District

During his 22nd nationwide TV broadcast on Sunday, January 17, 2021, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo declared the wearing of nose masks in public places as mandatory.

The Police were subsequently directed to deal with any recalcitrant Ghanaian who would disregard the directive.

“The wearing of masks in public places is mandatory. Regulatory agencies will undertake random checks to ensure conformity with COVID-19 rules. Should any facility or institution fail to comply with these directives, its activities will be immediately prohibited, and appropriate sanctions applied”, President Akufo-Addo noted.

But it seems the arrival of the Coronavirus vaccines in the country has created complete disregard for that directive as majority of Ghanaians are seen without their nose masks or fail to adhere to other safety protocols.

An observation on the streets of the Ellembelle District, indicates that a few people have been vaccinated.

Majority of the population have not taken their jabs. This development puts the entire district in danger.

A reporter has been monitoring the situation and most people have disregarded the directive.

However, the police are refusing to punish culprits.

A visit to some busy places in the District(lorry stations, market places, shops) by the reporter on Friday, April 23, 2021,saw traders and buyers going about their usual activities without wearing nose masks or social distancing at the Nzema Aiyinase market .

It was as well observed that passengers and drivers were not wearing nose masks.

Apart from the wearing of the nose masks, there were the absence of soap and Veronica buckets with water for handwashing.

Some traders said they were tired of wearing the nose masks when asked of their reasons for not wearing them.

Their excuse is that they find it very difficult to breathe whenever they wear nose masks.

They also stated that the number of positive cases of coronavirus in the country has reduced drastically. They believe continuous wearing of the nose masks will amount to a waste of money and resources.

"For how long would we continue to wear nose masks? Since 2020 March, we have been wearing nose masks yet the virus has not killed us so we can't continue anymore. We are tired. The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo must address the nation and declare Ghana a coronavirus-free nation. He should also lift the ban on our land borders. We are suffering, people are not buying our food items", they noted.

Others added, "they always say that there is coronavirus in Ghana but we have not seen it so what are they talking about, if you will die, you will die, is not about wearing nose masks, we don't have money to buy food to eat and you are saying that we should continue to buy nose masks to wear, we are fed up, tell President Akufo-Addo to think about us".

After touring some of the public places in the Ellembelle District, there were observations that no police officer had been assigned to arrest or ensure the mandatory wearing of nose mask.