The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has intensified its mass sensitisation and education campaign on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

After playing a key role in the fight against COVID-19 through its community outreaches and group engagements, the commission last week started a new strategy for its public education exercise in which it targets pedestrians and patrons of commercial vehicles.

As part of the sensitisation drive, the staff of the commission have taken to the principal streets of Accra, including the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Tema Station and Adabraka to encourage members of the public to strictly adhere to the safety protocols on COVID-19.

The civic educators hold placards with messages on COVID-19 alerting the public to observe the safety protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Messages

Some of the messages on the placards read: "Arrest the spread, comply with COVID-19 protocols," "Keep your distance," "Stop the stigma", "Kick out COVID-19, eat a balanced diet", "The future of Ghana is in my hands, I don’t shake hands", "We are all at risk, protect yourself", "Wear your face mask", "It is a face mask, not a chin mask", "Face mask is for the face not the pocket", "Adjust to the new normal".

The NCCE staff also interacted with pedestrians and commercial drivers and educated them on the need to stay safe by observing the safety protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Some of the safety protocols outlined by health authorities and the government to help stop the spread of COVID-19 include the mandatory wearing of nose masks; regular washing of hands under running water; the use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers and maintaining social distance.

Non-compliance

The Chairperson of the commission, Ms Josephine Nkrumah, who was spotted among the team of COVID-19 educators during one of the sensitisation exercises, told the Daily Graphic that adoption of the street campaign was part of a strategic move to ensure that all Ghanaians were well informed about the preventive measures for COVID-19.

She said the exercise was also against the backdrop that some members of the public did not wear nose masks; maintain social distance or adhere to the safety protocols.

"I have observed that most of us are no longer complying with the safety protocols and this is worrying. We must work to sensitise the people of Ghana to stay safe from COVID-19," she said.

NCCE COVID-19 education

Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke in Ghana in March, this year, the NCCE has been one of the key state institutions that played a frontline role in the fight to halt the spread of the virus.

The commission initially rolled out a targeted campaign that focused on hotspot communities for the virus.

It also conducted mass education through public address system; visitation to market centres as well as the use of traditional and social media to reach out to people.

Government support

Ms Nkrumah said the commission had been able to achieve remarkable success in COVID-19 campaign because of the support from the government.

For instance, she said, the government supported the NCCE with GH¢2.5 million to carry out its sensitisation programmes.

"The government, through the Office of the Chief of Staff, borrowed 50 Suzuki vehicles from the National Security Council for the NCCE and we allocated these vehicles to the hotspots that had been identified by the Ghana Health Service. This helped us a lot in our education and awareness creation on the pandemic," she said.

The NCCE chairperson added that the National COVID-19 Trust Fund also supported the commission with logistics and tools, including vehicles, public address systems, computers and some funds to maintain their vehicles.