According to Health officials working with the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana in its ongoing voters’ registration exercise, some members of the public seem to be shying away from the exercise due to the thermometer guns being used at various centers to check body temperatures.
The services of Ghana Health Service officials have been engaged by the EC as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the over one-month-long exercise, in ensuring adherence to safety protocols at the registration centers.
On Tuesday, June 30, 2020, marking the commencement of the exercise, some of these health officers revealed that there has been general compliance of the public in adhering to the preventive protocols such as handwashing, wearing of nose mask as well as the use of hand sanitizers.
However, they mentioned that some members of the public within some communities were reluctant in partaking in the exercise due to their assumption that a high temperature means they are COVID-19 positive and that they will be taken into isolation.
Stationed at the Gina International School center in the La Nkwantanang Municipality, a health official said “So far so good. But what I want to encourage people is they have to come, most of the people in the community are afraid of the thermometer gun. They think maybe when they come and they check their temperature and it’s high they are COVID-19 positive or something. But I want to encourage them that they should come, it’s not anything so they should come and register.”
The electoral commission began it’s much talked about compilation of a new voter register for the 2020 general election on Monday and is expected to complete the exercise on July 6, 2020.
