The Ashanti Regional Security Council (ARSC) would soon mandate the police to conduct snap checks on commercial vehicles with the view of apprehending those on board without face masks.     

“It is an offence to get on board a commercial vehicle without a face mask,” the Minister-Designate for the Region, Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah, cautioned.   

He advised commercial drivers not to allow passengers who were not wearing face masks into their buses adding that acting contrary to the directives could come with punitive measures against offenders.   

“We must be disciplined and adhere to the safety protocols as instituted by the government,” he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Kumasi, on the sidelines of the inauguration of some educational projects.     

According to Mr Osei-Mensah, the citizenry also had the responsibility to observe all other protocols such as the regular hand washing with soap, social distancing and the use of alcohol based hand sanitizers for their own safety and wellbeing.       

Meanwhile, a total of 440 deaths and 6,086 active cases relating to Covid-19 had been recorded in the country as of February 5, this year, according to the Ghana Health Service’s portal.     

 Mr. Osei-Mensah indicated that with Ashanti recording the second highest confirmed cases and trailing Greater Accra, the REGSEC was leaving no stone unturned in getting the people to follow the protocols.   

He further stressed the need for educational and civil society institutions to help campaign against the pandemic, noting that the new Covid-19 variant as identified in some countries could be deadly.