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Mr Kwadwo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister of Information, on Tuesday warned persons and institutions engaged in the food relief initiative to strictly adhere to the social distancing guidelines or risk being stopped from undertaking the project.

He said government would not hesitate to stop those persons or institutions purportedly helping the underprivileged with food relief packs during the COVID-19 pandemic if they failed to adhere to the social distancing protocol.

The Minister said though their intentions may be good, the non-adherence to the preventive measures could promote widespread community infections, which was dangerous to the fight against the pandemic.

At a press conference in Accra on the country’s response to the pandemic, Mr Nkrumah said the current situation where large crowds of people were seen scrambling for such relief items was highly unacceptable.

He advised well-meaning persons and institutions to demarcate spaces for beneficiaries to ensure the two-meter distancing to prevent the spread of the infection.

He said the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, which were at the forefront of the distribution of food and other relief items to the under-privileged, had earlier issued guidelines on the sharing procedure.

The Minister encouraged the public to strictly comply with all guidelines by the Government and health authorities to help stop further spread of the virus.