The University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa has deliberated with final year students of the University on COVID-19 protocols as they return to campus to finish their studies and write their examinations.

Present at the session were the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Victor Amoako Temeng, the Registrar; Mr Matthew Kwabena Okrah, the SRC President; Mr Otchere Kwamena Andoh and other senior members of staff.

Professor Jerry S. Y. Kuma, Vice-Chancellor, informed the students that Veronica buckets, liquid soaps and tissue papers have been placed at all entry points of the University and all lecture halls where all students are expected to wash hands before entering lecture halls, adding that every student would be provided with three nose masks and one hand sanitizer.

He said infrared thermometer guns have been kept at security checkpoints to check temperatures.
These items, he said, were part of a consignment of PPE provided to the University by the Government.

He said the Gold Refinery Hall of the University has been prepared as a holding or isolation center, so that in case one contracts the virus, the person would be safely kept there for the Municipal Response Team to take over the treatment.

Prof Kuma urged the students not to be rude to security men who would be checking their temperatures since it was for their own good.
Dr Joseph Darko, the Head of the Rapid Response Team in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, who was invited to throw more light on COVID-19 and what the students were expected to do to stay safe within the period they would be on campus, commended the University for putting a place in readiness as an isolation center and other precautionary measures in place to ensure that students were safe.

He urged Management to ensure that the names and contacts of all students were kept during lectures on a daily basis in order to help in contact tracing in case there were any reported cases of the virus among students.

Mrs Sabina Tannoh, the Public Health Nurse of Apinto Government Hospital, sensitised the students on the dangers of stigmatisation and advised them to guard against stigmatising people who may have been infected with COVID-19 but recovered.

Prof Bernard Kumi-Boateng, the Dean of Students, called on the students to adhere to the rules of the University during their short stay on campus and warned that no student would be allowed to travel out of campus without seeking permission from the Dean.