IN its efforts to keep all the people of Guyana safe from the Coronavirus, The Civil Defence Commission (CDC), on Wednesday, donated 5,000 face masks to the Guyana Post Office (GPOC) to distribute to pensioners.

At the short handing-over at the CDC, Director-General of CDC, Colonel Kester Craig said that the elderly is one of the most vulnerable group hence many efforts to keep them safe should be implemented – the face mask being one of them.

“As we know, GPOC and Ministry of Social Protection, and other organisations, are doing all that they can to reduce the amount of persons going to collect their pensions. However, despite all those interventions, you may have persons who will be assembling, and we have decided that it is best to ensure that they are protected out there, and we’re giving these masks for that purpose… We are looking at vulnerable groups and the pensioners have been recognised as one of the most vulnerable groups. They are considered high risk, and we want to ensure that they are protected. Hence, we are here and we are happy to give these masks to GPOC and ensure they are able to distribute to the pensioners across the country when they are collecting their pension. Apart from that, we are also monitoring the implementation of the new measures and give the GPOC whatever support we can give from the CDC at this point in time,” Craig told the media.

He noted, too, that in total, 12,000 masks were procured from a drive that the CDC started about three weeks ago. From this drive, persons were encouraged to send in samples, and from locals, small businesses, and other individual suppliers, 12,000 were received. For that, Craig took the opportunity to thank the supporter for coming onboard to ensure that there is adequate masks to give out to our citizens.

Receiving the donation was Deputy Postmaster General, Anastacia Jessemy-Lynch. She told the media that these masks will be distributed from tomorrow when pensioners start coming to collect their pension at the various post offices across the country.

“We will ensure that this is distributed countrywide. We have 64 locations countrywide and so we have to send out the masks so that everyone is protected at this time… We all have to work together to make this possible. Our senior citizens have laid the foundation for us and we want to ensure that they are safe at this time, so it takes a collaborative effort on all parts. So, today, we are thankful for this and it’s good to know that everyone is coming together at this time to play our part for the survival and development of Guyana,” Jessemy-Lynch said.