Dubbed, "Wear your nose mask", the campaign is aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

In line with the exercise, the assembly will distribute 10,000 locally made masks freely to the people.

Launching the campaign in Accra, the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) of Accra, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, said it had become essential for people to cover their nose and mouth because the virus was spread mostly through droplets when people sneezed, coughed or talked.

Wear nose masks

The MCE said adherence to the use of nose masks would significantly reduce the risk of transmission and recommended that people wear nose masks when they stepped out of their homes and when in a crowded area.

The nose masks, he said, was an effective preventive tool when its use was combined with other protocols such as frequent handwashing with soap under running water and the use of alcohol-based hand sanitiser rubs.

He said apart from the 10,000 locally produced nose masks to be shared in communities, markets and other places, the assembly had also received 200 nose masks from Trashy Bags, a private company that uses empty water sachets to produce bags, and 250 masks from an individual in Kantamanto following a request by the assembly for support.

The MCE appealed to companies and individuals to come on board and support the distribution of more nose masks.

"You cannot curb the virus by protecting only yourself but by protecting others too, " he said.

Make your mask

Mr Sowah said the assembly might not be able to reach out to everyone in the metropolis and therefore encouraged individuals to use simple materials such as handkerchiefs, or simple pieces of cloth as face coverings to slow the spread of the virus.

So far, he said, statistics on infected persons in Ghana showed that transmission in low-income communities was picking up.

The MCE urged persons selling nose masks and other items such as hand sanitisers at ridiculous prices to stop the act since it would deprive the poor and vulnerable from having access to those items.

He said the AMA would work with other metropolitan assemblies in the partially locked down areas, and encourage them to also embark on a similar campaign of distributing free nose masks to people resident in their areas.