As part of its effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the Bole District Assembly has teamed up with other relevant government departments in the district to contain the spread of the virus by adopting a holistic approach.
Before the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development came out with a directive for the MMDAs to form Public Health Emergency Committee (PHEC) to deal with the pandemic, the District Chief Executive, Hon.Veronica Alele Heming had already formed a similar task force with the Assembly Members along the borders of Cote D’ voire.
This task force was formed after an emergency meeting with Heads of Departments.
That is, immediately after President Nana Addo’s first address to the nation on the pandemic on 15th March 2020, Hon. Veronica, the Bole DCE, saw the need to convene an emergency meeting of all heads of departments in the district to discuss how the district could enforce the President’s directive.
The COVID- 19 Response Team that the District Chief Executive and her District Coordinating Director formed provided a platform for other departments in the district like the Ghana Education Service, Information Services Department, National Commission of Civic Education, Environmental and Sanitary Health, the security services and NADMO to join the District Health Directorate in the fight against the spread of the pandemic.
As a technical team, the Bole District COVID- 19 Response Team, which has been transformed into the PHEC, came out with an action plan for the district.
The implementation of the action plan of the PHEC by the District Assembly has resulted in the formation of various committees with requisite skills to help contain the spread of the virus.
The committee’s include; Security sub- committee, Sensitization sub- committee, Logistics mobilization sub- committee, Suspect holding centre sub- committee and Rapid response team committee.
The District Assembly has also provided Veronica buckets and other sanitary items for some government departments and agencies and Health facilities in the District since the outbreak of the virus in Ghana, said the DCE.
The Member of Parliament for the constituency Hon.Yussif Sulemana (Ori), contributing his views at the emergency meeting admonishes all residents in the district to adhere to the guidelines of WHO and GHS in relation to the fight against COVID- 19.
The Deputy ranking member of Trades and Industry of Parliament added that stakeholders should publicly practice hand washing with soap under running water and frequently use the sanitizers in public places, this way will encourage residents to follow suit, the MP noted .
Hand washing with soap under running water, frequent use of alcohol based sanitizers, avoiding handshakes, drinking of enough water and practising social distancing are some of the recommendations put forward by WHO in the fight against the novel coronavirus.