Hand hygiene and safety behaviours at shopping centres in COVID-19: an observation in Wa township in Ghana

Abstract

This study observed hand hygiene and safety behaviours of shoppers and shop keepers with respect to COVID-19 safety protocols in shopping centres in Wa, a business centre in North-western Ghana. Based on the theory of planned behaviour, the behaviours of 751 customers of 50 shops with handwashing facilities were observed from April to June 2020. It was observed that adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols at shopping centres was very poor. Although the shops observed provided handwashing facilities, 91.3% of the customers did not practise handwashing before entering the shops. Also, 84.2% of them did not wear mouth-and-nose masks during shopping. Similarly, for 78% of the shops observed, no shop attendant wore a mask. Despite the provision of handwashing facilities and widespread advocacy to minimise the infection of COVID-19, the citizenry, especially the youth, demonstrate a poor attitude towards safety measures. Non-adherence to COVID-19 protocols was higher in shops where there was no pressure to conform to the protocols. The findings, amidst the increasing number of infections, suggest that attitude and perceived behavioural control are critical to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and, as such, could be good entry points for behavioural interventions.

Perceptions about COVID-19 preventive measures among Ghanaian women

“…Although regular hand washing with soap was considered easy, barriers, including unavailability of water, tissue papers, uncleanliness of veronica buckets, and forgetfulness, prevented some participants from practicing it. The unavailability of tissue paper is similar to a study by Fielmua et al’s [ 26 ] in Ghana at shopping centres in Wa, which found that 88% (n = 50) of shops provided customers with no tissue papers to use after washing their hands. The authors explained that the unavailability of tissue paper was due to the high cost of tissue.…”

“…However, there is representation paucity in literature from sub-Saharan Africa. In the Ghanaian context, available studies have focused on physical distancing and risk of COVID-19 [ 25 ], hand hygiene and safety [ 26 ], and adherence to COVID‐19 preventive measures [ 27 ].…”

Contrasting Hygiene-Related Gastrointestinal Infections and Stress-Related Diseases at a Primary Health Care Facility within a Sub-Saharan African City: Before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The comparable gastrointestinal infection prevalence between the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 eras in the current study could be due to a number of reasons. First, in some parts of Ghana, adherence to COVID-19 protocols was poor, probably stemming from misconceptions that no case of COVID-19 infection had yet occurred in the country and/or that people from the tropics were immune to the virus [ 33 , 34 ]. Also possible is the contribution of the easing of restrictions towards the latter part of 2020, during which the euphoria associated with large gatherings may have caused laxity in adherence to the safety protocols.…”

‘Towards prevention of COVID‐19 among children in Ghana: Parents’ views about children wearing nose masks in public gatherings

“…As part of WHO's measures to contain the disease at the international and national levels, various safety measures including the correct and consistent use of nose mask has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the preventive measures against contracting COVID-19 [ 3 ]. These measures have become national response strategies in many countries including Ghana [ 4 ].…”