The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of the Ahafo Ano North Municipal Assembly in the Ashanti Region Martina Appiah Nyantekyie has as part of measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 lead a team to educate market women about some preventive measures.
The team, made up of health professionals and members of the Assembly visited the Tepa market last Thursday. The team among other things cautioned both market women and traders to practise basic hygiene and ensure healthy lifestyle.
Among the basic hygiene practices, the team-taught was hand washing. Here, the MCE through a demonstration showed the onlookers how to effectively wash the hand. Through the demonstration, the MCE mentioned that hand washing must take at least 20 seconds and must be done thoroughly under running water.
The MCE used the occasion to donate some veronica buckets to the market and urge both traders and patrons to put it into good use.
Interacting with the traders, the Municipal Health Director Mr. Joseph Adomako admonished them to take their health into their own hands by observing all the precautions prescribed by the Ghana Health service. Throwing light on social distancing, the Health Director stated, it has become very necessary and proven to be one of the major means of fighting the pandemic and advised that the public should desist from not so important travels and avoid handshaking.
On hand sanitizers, the Director stated that its application is also good and appealed to the traders to reduce the cost to make it affordable for all. Mr Adomako also used the occasion to advice the public to adopt both coughing and sneezing on the elbow as part of our culture.
In all the team was able to interact with at least 1000 people as the day was a market day. On every Thursday, the market attracts 1000s of patrons from across the country and even beyond. Traders come as far as from neighbouring Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Nigeria.
By Ernest Kofi Offen/ Tepa ISD