The Upper East Regional Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has rolled out an Anti-COVID-19 public education campaign to school residents about the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic which currently has no known cure.
‘NCCE Anti-COVID-19 Public Education Campaign’ sought to focus on symptoms of the disease, mode of transmission and the need to observe safety protocols outlined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Ghana Health Service (GHS), and the Executive Instrument; Imposition Restriction Act, 2020 (Act, 1012).
The NCCE has been undertaking the campaign in collaboration with the Church of Pentecost, which has provided mobile cinema van to sensitise people within the region.
Mr Samuel Akolgo, the NCCE Upper East Regional Director, in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday, said the four-week campaign would be carried out in all 15 districts, mainly at community lorry stations, market squares, radio stations and information centres.
He said the public needed to understand that the protocols which include observing social distancing, avoiding handshakes, regularly and thoroughly washing hands with soap under running water, covering your mouth with tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Avoid close contact with anyone coughing or sneezing, avoid physical contact during greetings, avoid touching your face especially eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands and the use of alcohol-based sanitiser are basic necessities to defeat COVID-19.
Mr Akolgo said the Imposition Restriction Act, 2020 (1012) affected all conferences, workshops, funerals, festivals, political rallies, sporting events and sporting clubs, religious activities in churches, mosques, shrines and at crusades, conventions, pilgrimages and other religious gatherings must be religiously followed.
He said the Act also enjoins public and private commercial transport services to ensure enhanced hygienic conditions in all vehicles and terminals, by providing, among others, running water and handwashing soap, alcohol-based hand sanitisers and disinfectants.
He said through traditional communication means, the campaign team engaged the public through street announcements, education in markets squares and communities on the brief history of the coronavirus, the current stage of the virus disease in the country, the mode of spread of the disease.
He said the most common symptoms of COVID-19 includes: fever, tiredness, dry cough, whilst some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose and sore throat or diarrheao.
In more severe cases, infections can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
On the mode of transmission, Mr Akolgo said that the disease is spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth when a person with COVID-19 coughs or sneezes.
“These droplets land on objects and surfaces and people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, by touching their eyes, nose or mouth. People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets.
“COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets rather than through the air and the incubation period for COVID-19 range from 1-14 days, most commonly around five days,” he said.
GNA
