MDAs institute rigorous hygiene systems

Ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have put in place rigorous hygiene and security systems on their premises to ensure the safety of their staff and patrons of their services.

Almost all of the MDAs have installed hand washing equipment at their entrances and vantage points within the premises, in addition to provision of hand sanitisers for use by both staff and visitors.

Some of them have also procured nose masks and hand gloves for their workers, especially at the security checkpoints.

Among the MDAs the Daily Graphic team visited yesterday were the ministries of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Energy, Education, Health, Food and Agriculture and the Employment and Labour Relations as well as the Registrar-General’s Department, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

As part of their internal protocols, some of the MDAs are not allowing any staff or member of the public to enter the premises and access any service, without first washing their hands and using a hand sanitiser that has been provided for that purpose.

Presidential directive

The move is in response to the directive by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for MDAs; state and private institutions; faith-based organisations (FBOs), and members of the public to suspend public activities for the next four weeks as a measure to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Ghana has so far confirmed six cases of COVID-19 that has wreaked havoc in over 150 countries and claimed more than 6,000 lives globally.

Visit

A visit by the Daily Graphic to some MDAs in Accra showed that those institutions had not left anything to chance as enhanced sanitation mechanisms had been put in place.

At MESTI, the team observed that a hand washing system had been set up at the corridor for all persons to wash their hands and use hand sanitiser.

A capacity-building workshop on internationally transferred mitigations outcomes that had been scheduled for staff of the ministry before the directive by the President was cancelled.

The Public Relations Officer of MESTI, Mr Ahmed Nashir Yartey, said the decision to call off the workshop was in the larger interest of the country.

At the Energy Ministry, the team observed that apart from the hand-washing equipment, hand sanitiser dispensers had been affixed on surfaces for the staff and patrons to use.

The story was not different from the EPA, the Education, Agriculture and other ministries the team visited.

The Registrar-General’s Department even had a more rigorous health and sanitation system in place. The team observed that the staff at the department spotted nose masks and hand gloves to help check the possible spread of COVID-19.

The Daily Graphic team also observed that the seats in the main hall at the department where businesses are transacted had been reduced to ensure that less number of patrons are handled at a time.