Vendors employ bouncers to enforce handwashing
A vendor (right) attends to a customer at Soroti Main Market on Old Mbale Road yesterday. Vendors in the market have deployed bouncers to enforce the handwashing campaign against the spread of coronavirus. PHOTO BY BY GEORGE MURON
Vendors in Soroti Main Market have deployed bouncers to enforce safety measures against the spread of coronavirus.
The bouncers are tasked to deny customers who refuse to wash hands access to the market.
Mr George William Eriebat, the chairperson of Soroti Market Vendors Association, said the initiative was taken following concerns that some customers were rushing past handwashing facilities.
“You will not know who is infected with the virus. The best is to observe hygiene by frequently washing hands but some people have been ignoring that,” Mr Eriebat said.
Mr Ted Enangu, one of the vendors selling farm inputs, said the bouncers are members of the business community who have sacrificed to enforce the measures.
“If you do not want to wash your hands, you go back to your home other than spreading the coronavirus,” Mr Enangu said.
The vendors have placed handwashing facilities in different spots of the market. They have also barricaded their lockups as a measure for social distancing to prevent customers from getting into contact with them and their commodities.
Mr Peter Okoth, one of the bouncers, said their purpose is basically to counter indisciplined customers who try to defy the order.
“Those who try to defy the regulations at the entrance will be denied any entry to the market,” he said.
The Resident District Commisioner of Soroti District, Mr William Wilberforce Tukei, commended the vendors in Soroti market for the latest initiative. He also discouraged the public against staying near people who are sneezing and coughing.
How to wash hands
Step 1: Wet hands with running water.
Step 2: Apply enough soap to cover wet hands.
Step 3: Scrub all surfaces of the hands – including back of hands, between fingers and under nails – for at least 20 seconds.
Step 4: Rinse thoroughly with running water
Step 5: Dry hands with a clean cloth or a single-use towel.
