The 20 member team was inaugurated in line with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's directives to contain and prevent the spread of the disease in the country, would also help to educate people in the Municipality on the virus.

Mr Isaac Appau-Gyasi, New Juaben South Municipal Assembly (NJSMA) Chief Executive in a press release copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the Emergency Team would help people to understand the nature of the disease and the need to adhere to the strict directives from government.

He said that the Assembly had also put in place other measures including the suspension of all public gatherings and programmes at the NJSMA Hall and had provided safety materials to be deployed at vantage points within the Municipality.

He said the conduct of marriages at the NJSMA have been limited to couples and witnesses, two from both the bride and the groom.

Mr Appau-Gyesi urged owners of public places to provide hand washing facilities and observe hygienic standards per the Food Safety and Hygiene by-laws of the Assembly.

The MCE instructed all public places such as restaurants, drinking bars, public toilet facilities and churches to strictly adhere to the directives of the President as security forces were on standby to arrest anyone who failed to comply with the directives.

He encouraged citizens to frequently wash their hands with soap under running water for 20 seconds, use approved hand sanitizers and cover their noses and mouth when sneezing and coughing to avoid the spread of the disease.

Mr Collins Aikins Akuffo, NJSMA Public Relations Officer in an exclusive interview with GNA, indicated that the Assembly had purchased about 1000 hand sanitizers and 500 Veronica buckets for distribution to its staffs, market women and drivers in the Municipality.

He said the items would be placed at vantage places in markets and lorry stations from Saturday, March 21, 2020 and advised all to keep washing their hands and use sanitizers to curb the spread of COVID-19.

He said the Assembly was doing more radio education to educate the public and tasked the Information Centres operators to use their medium to keep educating the masses on the updates on the virus as well as its preventive measures.

The Emergency Team urged transport operators to intensify education on the disease and to provide sanitizers and hand washing facilities to their customers to use before they sit in vehicles and use disinfectants to wash their vehicles, especially where the passengers frequently touched.