Madam Aba Oppong, a Human Rights Activist, has underscored the need for traders and shop owners to acquire for themselves Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to prevent them from contracting the coronavirus.

She said traders needed PPEs such as nose masks, hand sanitizers, and Veronica Buckets in their shops and places of work to protect themselves and their customers as well.

“I am not against government authorities and philanthropists distributing such equipment to traders in this period, but I strongly urge them not to wait until they are given to them,” she explained, adding that, “the earlier one guards against contracting COVID-19, the better it will be for us all”.

Madam Oppong who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, noted that her visits to some markets, especially, outside the city of Kumasi, had revealed that most traders are shunning the wearing of COVID-19 protective equipment.

The explanations, given by the traders, according to the Human Rights Activist, were that they had not received their share of nose masks and sanitizers from the local authorities, hence the failure to use them.

This, she said was posing a serious threat to such traders and community members since the virus continued to spread in the country every day.

As of Wednesday, May 27, 2020, Ghana has recorded over of 7,000 total COVID-19 positive cases with 34 deaths.

Madam Oppong called on the various district COVID-19 teams to intensify education in rural communities to avert misconceptions members perceived about the virus.

She advised everybody to stop stigmatization since it had ripple effects on victims.