Banks up precautionary measures to prevent spread of Covid-19

In the wake of recently recorded cases of the novel Coronavirus in the country, government and health experts have outlined a number of precautionary measures to be observed by citizens to contain the pandemic.

These precautions include regular washing of hands or the use of hand sanitizers, covering the mouth or nose when coughing or sneezing, avoiding handshakes and crowded places, among others.

On Tuesday, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited some selected banks in Accra to ascertain their input at ensuring the safety of both staff and customers.

In an interview with a staff (who pleaded anonymity) of Zenith bank (Sakaman Branch), he said the bank has provided staff with logistics such as gloves, masks and hand sanitizers to keep them protected.

Also, he said, they have placed orders for temperature guns to be supplied for use by security personnel to take temperature of customers as they entered the bank to ensure that no infected customer was granted entry.

The staff said the security personnel have been instructed to periodically wipe the door handles and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) with disinfectants.

“Every morning, before work commences, the staff are taken through a brief training session concerning the viral infection to keep them updated. We have sent private messages to all customers, and provided similar information online to educate them on the pandemic and the precautionary measures to ensure.”

“Precautionary notices have been posted at vantage points of entry and inside the bank so that customers could enlighten themselves about the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

He advised all customers to stay calm and make use of E-channels such as the Mobile Apps, Internet Banking, VISA cards, Master cards, ATM cards, among others, to reduce overcrowding at various banks.

A visit to the Ghana Commercial Bank (Head Office) at High Street in Accra revealed that two water buckets with taps (Veronica bucket) and liquid soap had been provided at the entrance of the banking hall for customer use before being allowed entry.

Hand sanitizers were made available for customers to apply and workers were seen also in gloves and face masks.

The First National Bank, Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and Access Bank, all being branches at the Ridge area in Accra, had their security personnel in gloves and insisted that before a customer entered the banking hall, he or she sanitized the hands with a hand sanitizer placed at the entrance of the banking hall.

In addition, most of the workers were in gloves while a few were in face mask.

At the Prudential bank (Odorkor Branch), Ecobank (Darkuman Junction Branch) and Societe Generale (Ministries Branch), GNA observed similarly, that all tellers and staff were in hand gloves and face masks and every customer was made to apply a sanitizer before entry.