Are COVID-19 protocols likely to be disregarded at night?

You may or may not believe it, but gradually Ghanaians are coming to terms with the wearing of a nose mask wherever they find themselves.

It would interest you to know that out of 100 people who step out during day time, about 75 to 80 percent (rough survey) wear nose masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Yes, change is coming but that is not to say that there is non-adherence to the other protocols either, especially social distancing.

This is a big issue the nation has been battling with to date, as there is a high gross of negligence to maintaining at least a 1-meter distance in public places; this I would not stress on because it’s disheartening.

On the other hand, it is becoming a matter of concern as wearing nose masks at night is being ignored blatantly for various reasons.

You should step out at night to survey your vicinity and evidently, you will notice the number of people trashing this important measure with just a handful complying.

What happened to night-slaying the nose masks as fashion gurus whilst being safe?

Despite the president’s directive to all restaurants, nightclubs, and open-air pubs to close down, lots of patrons throng into these spaces to have fun till daybreak without taking the measures into consideration.

It seems as though the ratio of daytime nose mask wearers to nighttime nose mask wearers does not tally and this could be alarming!

I was out one night with my brother to get some stir-fried indomie and it was then that I gathered some reasons people have for not wearing nose masks at night through a verbal questioning system.

To give you a couple of the findings;

• Some say that they don’t believe the rate of transmission is high at night (that’s absurd).
• Some also intimated that human contact at night is very minimal as compared today because there are so many people up and going.
• For some, they just step out at night to inhale some fresh air (not inhaling corona I guess) or to purchase some indomie or bread.

The questions bothering are; whether or not there was a directive that stated that covid protocols do not apply at night? Scientifically is it proven that coronavirus is dormant at night?

These are issues stakeholders ought to be looking at and treating it as such.

A reminder of what protocols to observe at night:

•  Wear a nose mask during day and night times.
• Wash your hands with soap under running water.
• Maintain at least 1-meter social distance in public.
• Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer after touching surfaces.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose, or face.

Let’s not sit and wait for the saying “Had I known” to become a reality before our very own eyes.

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Author: David Asante | universnewsroom.com