Correspondence from Upper East Region

Following the President's directive for all and sundry to observe the COVID-19 protocols, a visit to the Bolgatanga major lorry station saw a lot of people not wearing the masks.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb's Upper East Regional reporter, Sarah Dubure, the station master, Salifu Baba Yahaya, underlined poverty as the major cause of the non-compliance with the directive.

Mr. Yahaya lamented that times were tough, explaining that most of the people in the market have to trek for miles from neighbouring villages to the market to sell their woven baskets before they can feed.

"And this morning, I saw someone and the person finished and used a polythene bag to tie as nose mask. It's (money) not just there at all.

The station master noted with worry that if the directive for the arrest of people who do not wear the mask is enforced, a lot of people would be culpable and arrested, especially the old women.

He, therefore, suggested for the police to be tasked to distribute masks to the aged and people who cannot afford nose masks.

The Station Chairman, Samed Ibrahim, appealed to the government and benevolent organizations to supply them with nose masks and PPEs to help mitigate the spread of the pandemic.

Mr. Ibrahim assured that he would do his utmost, to ensure that the drivers and station boys are always masked up when supplied with the nose masks.

Kassim Bashiru, who is an undergraduate, was of the view that the COVID-19 pandemic is a hoax. In a bid to buttress his point, he pointed out that he had never seen someone with the disease.

He recalled that the late Flt. Lt. JJ Rawlings at a point visited a health facility and proposed to see the alleged COVID-19 patients, but was denied access to have a glimpse of them. According to Mr. Kassim, it was untrue, hence the denial.

Meanwhile, the case count of the pandemic in the Region, as of January 14th 2021, stands at 512, with 10 deaths.