Police arrest over 85 people in Cape Coast for flouting coronavirus Safety Protocols

The Central Region Police Command has arrested more than 85 persons for allegedly violating the COVID-19 safety protocols in the Cape Coast Metropolis on Thursday.

The arrests were made at Abura and Kotokoraba, suburbs of Cape Coast.

It followed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's directive to the security services to collaborate and enforce the COVID-19 safety protocols in the wake of an upsurge in the number of active cases and the discovery of a new variant of the pandemic in the Country.

With immediate effect, the police arrived in the communities, and those who were not wearing nose masks took to their heels with some rushing to buy one while others pulled theirs from their pockets to wear them.

The arrested persons were largely pedestrians, drivers, shop attendants, foreigners, and travellers from all walks of life.

As some people attempted to resist arrest, many wept while others pleaded for leniency as their families and friends followed them to the Regional Police Headquarters.

Some arrested persons in an interview with the Ghana News Agency acknowledged the essence of wearing a nose mask but indicated it was difficult wearing it throughout the day because they felt uneasy when worn for a long period.

Others claimed the disease was a statement of people's imagination, fiction, untrue, and a sign of end time, hence, there was no need to wear while others read political meanings into it.

Briefing the media after the exercise, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Irene Serwaah Oppong, Regional Public Relations Officer, said the exercise began on Monday across all the police divisions in the Region simultaneously.

She said the statements of the offenders would be taken and later dealt with in accordance with the law to compel the general public to strictly adhere to the COVID-19 protocols.

The Regional Public Relationships Officer pledged their commitment to sustain the exercise and advised the public to stop the blatant disregard for the COVID-19 safety protocols adding that "the pandemic is real."