The Ho municipality has become the hotspot for COVID-19 cases in the Volta Region as it recorded 62 out of the 160 cases in the region, Deputy Director of Health in-charge of Public Health in the Volta Region, Dr Kwesi Djokoto has said.

He has, therefore, called for urgent attention to be paid to the municipality to forestall the continuous spread of the virus in the municipality and the region as a whole.

He explained that as at Thursday 62 of the total 160 cases of the virus in the region were in the municipality.

“And there are indications that the figure would rise sooner than later,” he warned.

Dr Djokoto disclosed this here on Thursday when he received 10,000 nose masks, worth GH?45,000, from the Member of Parliament(MP) for Ho Central, Mr Benjamin Komla Kpodo, for distribution to members of the public across the constituency.

He thanked the MP for constantly supporting efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, saying that the availability of the masks would definitely ensure compliance to the prevention protocol among the populace.

“You need to have the masks before you wear them,” Dr Djokoto explained.

Presenting the items, Mr Kpodo noted that the virus had, so far, claimed three lives in the municipality and, therefore, “we cannot be doing things as usual anymore”.

While supporting the mandatory mask-wearing protocol, the MP appealed to the security agencies to carry out the enforcement exercise with a human face without “inflicting brutalities on our people”.

He said that the nation needed the informal sector players to remain at work to grow the local economy, “and so, we need our traders to be in the markets, farmers on the farms, tailors on the machines and mechanics at the garages”.

Mr Kpodo said that the donation was made out of love, and so the masks must get to everyone who needed it, to kick the virus away.

He paid glowing tribute to local dressmakers and tailors who diligently produced the masks to the standard set by the Ghana Health Service and urged all and sundry to continue to observe the COVID-19 safety protocols.