By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Yaounde inhabitants are yet to come to terms with government’s call for the continuous respect of social distancing and the wearing of face masks in bars and travel agencies, as they resume unre-stricted activities. Though the turnout in some bars at Carrefour Biyem Assi was still timid over the weekend probably due to the scarcity of financial resources for some who were unable to work due to previous restrictive measures, ambiance was gaining steam in other bars at Mvan as customers could be seen crowded around tables without face masks and drinking.
Asked why some have rather placed the masks under their chin, Jean Pierre Noah told The SUN that “it is practically impossible for someone to sit in a bar with a face mask because we do not come to bars to watch TV or films but to drink and chat with friends. How can somebody drink while wearing a mask? I think the government itself knows that what they are asking people to do in bars is almost impossible because once someone gets drunk, he or she will violate social distancing and even pull off his or her mask in a bar.”
Just like what is being obtained on motorbikes and in taxis, some inhabitants are simply ignoring government’s call for people to keep wearing face masks despite the lifting of restriction on the number of passengers to be transported.
Travel agencies at the overcrowded Mvan motor park were rather excited over government’s lifting of restriction on the number of passengers to be transported than enforcing the continuous wearing of masks.
Joan Ngong, a passenger in one of the travel agencies confided in The SUN that “the wearing of mask while embarking on lengthy journeys is not realistic especially when heat takes over the car because of overcrowded passengers.”
With COVID-19 still looming over Cameroon, a high rate of new infected cases is feared in the days ahead unless administrative authorities take appropriate measures to dispatch Forces of Law and Order to the field to check the respect of social distancing and wearing of face masks in public places.