Some churches in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis (STMA) and the Effia-Kwesimintsim Municipality (EKMA) of the Western Region have had their auditoriums and premises disinfected in compliance with the government’s directives to them as part of the COVID-19 protocols for the resumption of religious activities in the country.

Religious activities in Ghana was partially banned for over two months as part of raft measures introduced by the government in March to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic which has now affected over 9,000 people in the country.

However, recently after weeks of wider stakeholder consultations, President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the easing of the restrictions to among others, enable religious activities to resume but amid stringent protocols.

Among the modalities prescribed by the Ministry for Religious Affairs for the religious bodies are the mandatory disinfection of their venues before resumption and also at least once every month.

Against this background, a number of churches in the Western Region on Tuesday engaged waste management experts, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, as recommended by government, to disinfect their church auditoriums and premises in preparation towards reopening of church service.

At the end of the exercise, each Area or Circuit Offices of the church was certified with a covid-19 disinfection certificate while the local assemblies or branches had stickers which were posted at the entrance of the auditoriums to inform users that the place has been disinfected and cleared for use as directed by the government.

Alhaji Abdul Abdallah, Western Regional Manager of Zoomlion told Today newspaper that the exercise will cover all churches, mosques, schools and the military barracks who have contacted the company for the disinfection exercise ahead of their opening.

He explained that following the President’s directive to the religious bodies to disinfect their venue for worshiping, a number of churches have contacted Zoomlion Ghana Limited, which has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 disinfection in the country, to disinfect their venues.

Alhaji Abdallah argued that the alone is not a panacea for stemming the spread of the coronavirus and called on the populace to keep to the protocols of washing the hands with soap under running water, keeping social distancing, using alcohol-based hand sanitizer and wearing of the nose masks.

Madam Eva Nana Ama Essilfie, Society Steward of the Gethsemane Methodist Church at Mpatado commended Zoomlion for the exercise and hinted that measures have been put into place to ensure that all the other protocols are adhered to.

“The virus is real and we don’t have to compromise on safety, we don’t have to compromise on the safety protocols. So we will make sure that when members are coming into the premises they wear their nose mask and observe social distancing.