Kwara bans “house-to-house” distribution of relief items amid COVID-19 lockdown

…to announce disbursement mechanism Wednesday

The Kwara State Government, on Tuesday, placed ban on “house to house” distribution of relief materials by politicians and philanthropist in the state.

This was made known in a statement by the governor’s spokesperson and sent to THE INFORMANT247 in Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital.

The statement reads, “While thanking everyone who has donated materials and money for this cause, including those who are privately reaching out to the public, the government notes a dangerous trend in the way some palliatives are being shared. Pictures have surfaced online showing people moving from house to house to share things for whatever mileage. This is very dangerous as it could lead to unintended community transmission of Coronavirus.

“Following informed opinion of the medical advisory committee of the technical committee on COVID-19, the government hereby bans such house to house distribution of materials at this time.

However, the state government promised to reel out disbursement mechanism today saying, “donors or their privies can drop such materials at collection points in each ward while beneficiaries go there and pick under strict compliance with COVID-19 prevention protocols.

The statement added, “Further information will be given in this regard by His Royal Highness in his briefing tomorrow.

“Donors who may want to be identified with the gestures may wish to brand such materials or food stuffs in their names, political or social affiliations. Once again, the government commends everyone who has reached out to the poor at this time. However, such must be done without provoking a crisis we are trying to prevent in Kwara State.

“Finally, we wish to state that Kwara State does not have any confirmed case of COVID-19 as at this minute. We continue to be on the alert and we urge the public to be as specific as possible when offering intelligence to our medical team.”